Memories: Journey Home
by DrabbitDragonLord
Summary: "Toothless scoffed. Of course Hiccup never gave up... He would find another Night Fury... Just as he promised." A year after Drago's attack, Hiccup sets out to find another Night Fury. All the while Toothless yearns for the family that was thought to have passed. But finding more Night Furies is only the beginning of their troubles... Sequel to "Memories". *ON HIATUS
1. The Chief and the Alpha

_Memories: Journey Home_

 _Chapter 1: The Chief and The Alpha_

"You know, there is something new about you."

Hiccup chuckled, as he reached in the bucket of water. It was already full, and he was afraid to admit that he still could not lift it alone. Gladly, Toothless was there when needed. However, the rather large dragon was off laying in the grass on the hill overlooking Berk.

"Well, I am the Chief of Berk," Hiccup admitted. He sat himself down beside his wife, Astrid Hofferson, and handed her a small cup.

Astrid lightly punched his shoulder. "I got that, genius. I just mean that you are taking this chief business better than you lead it out to be."

There was a moment of silence form Hiccup, and he was well aware of it. It had been over a year since the passing of Stoick the Vast, and Hiccup had stepped up to take the role of Chief. Yet- and he was not afraid to admit it to Astrid- he felt the struggles of Chief-hood demanding. It took some time for him to adjust, but he somehow managed.

"Who else would have?" Hiccup asked, as he took a sip from his own cup.

The blonde maiden scoffed. "If you told _me_ to be chief, I gladly would have." She smiled, and lightly squeezed his arm. "Don't put yourself down, Hiccup. You're doing an amazing job."

Hiccup lightly swung his foot. "Yea, I guess so."

Astrid pulled on his suit, forcing her husband to look at her. "No. you are. Look: the village is in one piece. There has not been any sightings of Dagur or Drago. Your mom is happy here, and we're married. You are a great chief," Astrid explained.

The thought of it would have made Hiccup feel confident, but not right now. For some reason, the insane madmen he had face was not the reason for his sad mood. Sure, everyone on Berk was happy... but Hiccup was not sure if someone in _particular_ was happy.

"How can I be a great chief, if I can't help Toothless?" He glanced at the black scaled dragon. "He's my best friend. And I can't help him."

The Night Fury sat in the grass, and watched the dragons fly above Berk. Some of the dragons were of the same species, and they were using their form of Dragonese to speak with each other. Toothless continued to flip his ears down, as he observed family members bonding with one another. Every so often, Toothless would purr to the dragons who could not hear him from above.

Astrid raised an eyebrow. "Hiccup, you can't do anything about giving him the freedom to fly. He rejected the tailfin, remember?"

Hiccup recalled back to the auto-tailfin he created for Toothless. It was a Snoggletog gift to give Toothless his freedom, but the Night Fury had destroyed it. He instead showed loyalty to Hiccup. And as much as Hiccup appreciated Toothless' loyalty, the young chief knew that Toothless needed freedom as well.

"This isn't about the fin, Astrid." He stood up, not able to sit at the confusing thoughts swirling in his head. "I-I have searched for six years, to find Toothless' family. Or... a Night Fury. Some indication that Toothless is not alone out there." He rested a hand on his head. "You'd think after all those adventures at Dragon's Edge, we would have found another Night Fury out there."

He laughed, but it was unsettling. Unnatural. "And get this: when I met my mother, I was sure that she would have seen another Night Fury somewhere. But then she tells me that Toothless may be the last Night Fury. How do you think that made me feel?"

Astrid didn't answer. And Hiccup didn't want her to. He didn't want to hear the possible answer that he could never help Toothless. That he could never keep the burdening thought that Toothless was... endangered.

The young chief ran a hand through his hair. "Maybe- maybe I want to show that my best friend is not alone. Because I know how it feels to be alone. To not know that others like you are out there." He looked back at the dragon, who was now resting his head on the ground. "Toothless helped me find my mother. And I swore that I will help him find his family."

Hiccup could feel his arms collapse, feeling as though gravity was pulling them down. Instead, he allowed himself to fall to the ground, and just stare up at the blue sky above Berk. He watched silently as different species of dragons circled the island, enjoying the limitless sky. The dragons flew through the fluffy clouds, and disjointed the cloud's images.

The clouds seemed to take the form of Night Furies, and raced each other with their incredible speed. Feeling the freedom in the open air. Firing plasma blasts and chased each other with their retractile teeth.

For a while, there was no talking. And it felt... comforting. Hiccup was just allowed to watch the imaginary Night Furies, to which he wished that they were real. Oh, how he wished they were real.

"You know..." Astrid laid down on the ground, and pulled on Hiccup's arm, forcing him to turn his head to face her. "You're a great friend for doing this, Hiccup. And I bet Toothless knows that, too." She placed a hand on his shoulder. "I know you'll find more Night Furies." To emphasize her point, she kissed him.

Hiccup sighed, but he allowed Astrid to kiss him fully, and drew her into a hug. As he joined her in their kiss, he could not help for a brief moment than to admit that she was right.

* * *

Toothless never realized that he was alone.

For many winters, it seemed, that he had forgotten what it meant to be alone. After all, he was always with Hiccup. And Hiccup appeared to feel lonely as well. And that's why they got along. Why they were so inseparable. So close.

After Hiccup found Valka, the young human divulged himself in learning all she knew. Then… after Stoick died, Hiccup took the responsibility of Alpha for the Vikings (or Chief, as Hiccup and the humans called it). Sure, Hiccup usually was helping the village and making orders, but Toothless never felt alone. He figured it was like having a whole herd to care for.

Yet, Toothless knew that he was alone.

The realization was a bit of a shock, really. He didn't mean to listen to Hiccup and Astrid talk. He knew from speaking with dragons that it was not considered appropriate to overhear others talking in confidence. And Toothless knew that he should not have listened to Hiccup's conversation.

But, as his mother always told him, he was too curious for his own good.

 _"He's my best friend. And I can't help him."_

The Night Fury, although decided to stop watching the other dragons enjoy their freedom in the air, still faced the limitless sky. From the way Hiccup spoke... It was though the skinny human had almost given up.

Toothless scoffed to himself. No. Hiccup _never_ gave up. He _always_ knew what to do. He was a determined human and he promised to find a Night Fury. Even if it meant just knowing that there was at least one Night Fury out there.

 _"I be your friend…."_

Toothless cooed at the memory. The moment his much younger self, merely a hatchling, confessed to an older Night Fury that he was not alone in the world.

That he had a friend.

Yet, Toothless could not help but feel the rush of many memories flood him. Of his mother. The Wodensfang. The Whispering Death. His dead mother. Woddie accepting him as his son. Growing and traveling together.

Toothless moaned sadly. It had been so long since he had seen his father.

Well, adopted father, to be honest. His birth father (according to Wodensfang) died during a Viking attack on a Night Fury nest. As much as it had pained him to not know his birth father, he was lucky to have had one at all.

The older Night Fury, whose scales had grown whiter as each winter passed, was a remarkably old dragon. Sarcastic at times, but nevertheless he was a loyal and brave dragon.

 _He_ was _strange_ , Toothless admitted. When he had first heard of the Wodensfang, he heard that the ancestors had given the old dragon a name (since dragons never gave names to their young). But it suited the old dragon. The dragon had explained that his name meant... like a protector. And he was a protector. Wodensfang protected Toothless, or _Blackfoot_ as he was referred as (ironically), for many years.

 _He really was my father..._

 _Those_ were happy memories. Playing under the stars. Fishing with the herd. Sleeping in the old cave that was their new home. Meeting new Night Furies.

 _Happiness._

As the happy memories came flooding in, a feeling of pity entered. Toothless didn't know why, but he started to feel sad in addition. Like... he should not have left to the Queen's Nest six years ago. Not just that he was alone... but because he left his father behind.

His heart ached for the old dragon that he met as a young hatchling of merely a month old. The same dragon whom he referred to as _Papa_.

The Night Fury moaned sadly once again, as he came to realize something:

 _What if you aren't out there, Wodensfang?_

* * *

 _Okay, to those who are a little confused... this is the "sort-of-sequel" to my story, "Memories"._

 _However, it may be a little confusing to just jump into this story. I have altered this slightly for new readers, and I hope you new readers are not completely confused. If you are, I strongly suggest you read "Memories" (it's only twelve chapters long). Or you can message me :)_

 _To my "Memories" fans... yes, I have the sequel! I have written the first five chapters, but I am hoping that this will be longer than twelve._

 _Please read and review!_

 _~DrabbitDragonLord_


	2. Present Parents

_Memories: Journey Home_

 _Chapter 2: Present Parents_

Hiccup poked his porridge, which did not look completely satisfying to eat.

It was a ritual in his home to do this; well, ever since his mother moved in and insisted on cooking for her son. To make up for lost time or something like that. But Hiccup had been a little nervous to digest anything that his mother cooked. If she's anything like Astrid, he first thought.

Despite his protests, Valka had improved on her cooking in the past year. Then again, as he had mentioned, she would have to learn to cook for her future grandchildren. Hiccup, at the time, had nearly choked on his drink and decided to drop the subject. Since then, he had learned to eat her dishes.

However, this particular morning, he was not fairly fond of eating his porridge; which was one of the only meals she did not manage to mess up.

Valka passed her son and sat in the chair beside him. "Is everything alright, son?" she asked.

Hiccup shrugged. What was she going to tell her? That he was feeling depressed that he could not find any Nigh Furies, and his best friend was the last of his kind?

Yea, that was a great morning conversation.

He shrugged. "I'm fine, Mom."

An unconvincing chuckled escaped from the forty year old woman. "Son, you usually are like this when something is bothering you." She leaned in a little closer. "What's on your mind?"

Hiccup was lucky that his mother was better at reading his emotions. Then again, he wasn't really able to convince her either wise. Sure, he could convince a bunch of mongrels that dragons were friendly, but talking about his feelings to his mother? _Not likely._

"I'm worried that… I failed Toothless."

Valka nodded slowly, so Hiccup took this opportunity to continue. "I can't help but feel that Toothless is alone in this world, and I want to see him with his family." He looked at her. "Is that weird?"

Valka shrugged. "No. It's an honorable thing to do. Just…" she sighed. "Don't put your hopes too high, son. There may not be any Night Furies left."

"But why?" Hiccup asked, suddenly looking at her. "If Night Furies never reveal themselves, then why are they disappearing?"

There was another silencing moment from her. It was some time before she answered.

"I'm not an expert on those dragons, but I have seen them rage wars with some other species of dragons. Even against themselves."

Hiccup was astounded. Did dragons have the ability to rage wars on each other? He figured it was merely a human thing to do. _It makes dragons no better than humans, though._

"Are dragons good at hiding?" he asked.

Valka stayed silent. It was though she did not have the ability to speak, as though the gods took her voice. However, she found her voice. "Perhaps. Then again, I have only searched for dragons in the day or early morning."

The revelation of her statement gave Hiccup a thought. "Are you saying that some dragons are nocturnal?" he asked.

The former vigilante smiled. "Maybe. Some _animals_ are nocturnal, so why not some dragons?"

Hiccup smiled. He always wondered what kind of Viking his mother was. Ever since he was little. He remembered thinking she was the bravest Viking, because she fought dragons. Now he knew the truth, but he never faltered his pride of his heritage. That his mother and he were so much alike.

And this idea that Night Furies were nocturnal… it made him think of why they were never successful in finding the rare species: the Vikings were always searching in daylight.

"Maybe… maybe we could look sometime this week," Hiccup decided. He stood up and reached for his notebook. It used to contain his daily scribbles, sketches and odd designs. Now it was his daily schedule.

He flipped through the notes, ending on the most recent entry. "It looks that I have a few meetings with some of the other tribes, plus I have to plan for the next Dragon Race." He smirked. "I think I might have a couple of nights to go looking."

Valka smiled. "You know, if you need anyone to run Berk… I am always here, Hiccup."

The Chief raised an eyebrow. "But don't you want to come and look for Night Furies?"

"My years of finding and living with dragons are long gone, son," Valka figured.

"I find that hard to belive," Hiccup joked.

Valka chuckled, as she patted his shoulder. "Perhaps this would give you and Astrid some time alone. You know how long it's been since you two have had time together."

Hiccup rolled his eyes at his mother's sense of humour. "Mom, if this is another plot of yours to give you grandchildren-"

"Course not," Valka insisted. However, she smirked to herself. "It would give me something to do when I'm not training."

 _She's just as bad as Dad,_ Hiccup thought to himself.

Instead of pushing his mother away, he merely hugged her in return. "Thanks, Mom. This means a lot."

He felt his mother's hands squeeze his shoulders again. "Perhaps if you find a Night Fury, you should bring it here for me to see with my own eyes."

"I'll be sure to bring one back, at least," Hiccup promised. "Maybe they'll know Toothless."

Valka nodded again, and squeezed him again. She pulled back and smiled. "Now, go bring in your wife. Her breakfast's getting cold."

Hiccup chuckled. "Alright." He walked over to the door and went outside to where his wife was practicing her sword skills. And he did with an upbeat in his step, which he hadn't felt in a while. Not since his… father's passing.

However, his mother managed to keep his spirits up.

And he appreciated it.

Hiccup smiled to himself. _I'm glad she's here._

* * *

 _….Eight years ago…._

" _Now, you have to wait until you see one before you pounce,"_ the old dragon said.

The young Night Fury wagged his body in excitement. He had been waiting six winters to show his hunting skills. And he was determined to help the herd hunt for dinner with the next hunting party. It was what he had wanted to do since he was a little hatchling.

" _Are you going to flake out on me again?"_ the black Night Fury asked. The last time the Wodensfang tried to train him, the young Night Fury was stopped because the old dragon had immediately changed his mind.

His guardian, with dark blue scales whitening in old age, merely released a low ruffle in the back of his throat. " _I completely trust you, Little One."_

The teenaged Night Fury rolled his eyes. He _wasn't_ little anymore. Sure, his brothers from other nests were towering him already, but it did not mean he was not of worth. Quite the contrary, he fought off a Whispering Death not long after he hatched, if he did say so himself.

" _Why do you still call me that?_ " he groaned with annoyance. His father, although sarcastic, could be literal if he wanted to. " _You said you would call me Blackfoot. Besides, I am almost the size of you._ "

The Wodensfang looked back from the water to his son with confusion on his face. " _I have always called you Little One..._ " He nudged his head against the teenager playfully. " _Then again, I like to tease you just as much, Blackfoot."_ There was humor in his growls this time.

If the teenager, Blackfoot, was not so enthusiastic about his wishes to fish, he would have teased the old dragon back. Whether it would be merely calling him an old grump.

" _Can you just teach me?"_ he asked.

The old dragon nodded. " _Right. Now-_ " he gestured his head to the water below them. "- _you see that shadow in the water? You have to make sure they don't see you. You have to use the extensions of your fins to control your actions._ "

Blackfoot nodded. He closed his eyes. He allowed himself to feel how far the nerves of his tail went. He could see his tail. The fins and his twitching instincts. Every part of his body was an extension. And extension to the running water. The slightest movement from the fish.

" _Do you feel it, Little One?_ " the old dragon asked.

The teenager nodded, excitedly. " _I-I do feel it, Wodensfang!_ " he whispered. He knew he had to keep quiet, but the revelation of what he could accomplish was joyful news to him.

The old dragon cooed softly. " _Now… use them to help you."_

Promptly, Blackfoot steadied his body. He stared at the moving fish underneath him, and fiddled his body. He was ready to pounce at them.

 _Slowly…_

Just as the fish were about to move, he attacked-

 _SPLASH!_

As his body hit the cool water, he felt something scaly hit his mouth. Right in the roof of it. It squirmed inside, and fought to escape. Blackfoot lifted his head out of the water and tried to gulp it down, but the fish was persistent. It jumped out and it the small piece of land.

He leaped out of the water and squirmed, trying to get a hold of his escaped dinner. He used his paws to try to catch it, but it once again slipped from his grasp. The dragon growled in frustration as he tried to anticipate the fish's movements.

The moment he pounced at it with one last bit of determination. However, it leaped in the air and returned to its home.

From beside him, the old dragon released a series of laughter.

Blackfoot huffed in annoyance. It was his first try, for crying out loud! And he would have said something back to the old dragon, if he wasn't determined to impress him. He lowered his head in shame as he caught his breath.

" _That was… impressive_ ," the Wodensfang admitted, still chuckling.

The teenager was not convinced, as he laid down in the ground in defeat. Instead of looking at his caretaker, he motioned himself away. He laid his head on his forelegs with annoyance.

" _Easy for you. You've done this hundreds of times_ ," the young dragon huffed.

The old dragon walked out of the water, carrying freshly caught fish. There was about six in his mouth, fighting to return to the water. However, the old dragon's worn teen were clamped together.

" _I am much older than you, remember?_ "the Wodensfang said, with a chuckle. He spat out the fish, and nudged three over to the teenager. " _It takes time to learn how to hunt._ "

The young Night Fury shrugged, not wanting to look at the fish.

He knew he really shouldn't take it too personally. After all, Wodensfang was only trying to help Blackfoot. He was considered the wisest dragon in their old Night Fury herd, after all (despite not many of the adults appreciating him).

" _Do you think my mother was a good hunter?"_ he asked.

The old dragon sat closer to him. " _Your mother... was a brave dragon. She clearly loved you so much that she was willing to put your life before hers._ " He nudged him. " _As any mother would have._ " He nodded. " _And I bet she was a great hunter._ "

The teenager nodded, his green eyes filled with sentiment. " _Thanks, Wodensfang."_ He nudged his head to his father, purring against his head. " _I'm glad you're here."_

" _And here I'll stay_ ," Wodensfang promised. " _Don't you worry, Little One. I will never leave you._ "

Blackfoot purred again. _I know you will._

* * *

 _Woddie…._

Toothless felt his chest was hurting.

The last time it hurt when he killed Stoick the Vast. Rather… when he realized that he had killed Stoick. The way his hand… fell limb. It was like waking up from a bad dream. His vision was distorted and he was not sure what had happened. Except Stoick never woke up.

What was worse was Hiccup's reaction and driving him away from him.

He recalled how sad Hiccup was. There was… anger and sadness in his eyes. Passion burned in the young man's eyes, like an angry dragon after a loved one passed. And Toothless was genuinely scarred of Hiccup there.

 _Yep. Definitely worse._

Toothless didn't want to do anything.

He felt… lonely.

Yet… Hiccup was recently with him. In fact, Hiccup had just left to work on some chief duties (something about the twins getting stuck somewhere), and Toothless noticed. Hiccup had just given him a bucket of fish, his favourite kind as well, and even patted his head.

Still… he felt empty.

He wanted his papa. He missed the old dragon.

 _But we looked._

 _There are no Night Furies…._

If there were Night Furies, he and Hiccup would have found them. _They_ were a team, and they always had a plan. Nothing could stop them. They were Chief and Alpha, after all. Hiccup defeated Drago, and Toothless the Bewilderbeast. It was though it was planned that way, how they were destined to bring the two worlds together, and finally end the years of conflict.

If anyone could find Night Furies, it was them. He and Hiccup were a team. They did not fly simultaneously. It wasn't Hiccup as the rider, or Toothless the flier. Both flew together. They were one, especially when they flew.

They could accomplish anything together…..

 _Right?_

The Night Fury walked to the house. It was warm. Welcoming. Not like outside, where there was the constant reminder that out there are dragons. Dragons that had families. Their own kind.

And what did it mean for him?

He curled up to the fire, where a pot was boiling. Yes, it was still hot from the freshly made dinner. The smell of cooked fish dissatisfied his stomach, but he knew the humans liked it. Yes, he was curious - once. But any other way… Valka or Hiccup would end up giving him some fresh fish to dine on.

But he didn't feel hungry now.

"Hiccup!"

He lifted his head, tilting it to the side. Astrid was at the door. _But why?_

The blonde maiden smiled. "Oh, hey Toothless," she cooed, as she walked over and patted his head with affection. "You wouldn't have happened to have seen Hiccup, have you?" she asked.

" _Even if you could understand me_ ," Toothless huffed, " _I could not tell you where he went._ " He knew there was no point in trying to speak to Hiccup or Astrid. They did not understand Dragonese. Even Valka, being twenty years surrounded by dragons, did not fully grasp the dragon dialect.

There was a slight laugh from Astrid. One that Toothless did not understand the humor in his statement. "I do wish I could help you. Hiccup's been determined to find another Night Fury." In emphasis, she stroked the scales on his head gently and sat closer to him by the fire.

Toothless nodded, but he let out a sad moan. He was fine with being alone. He had been for a while. But it wasn't the fact that he was lonely, he wanted his family. His old family.

But _this_ … this was what he wanted. Another being to be around. Even if it was just sitting by the warm fire on an autumn afternoon with his best friend's mate.

He just wanted _company_.

Hiccup. Astrid. Valka. Cloudjumper. Stormfly. Heck, even _Sharpshot_ , despite how annoying that little Terror was. _They_ were his family. He was happy with just them.

Yet… if Wodensfang was still out there-

 _That_ would have been something.

Toothless cooed softly, as to not alert Astrid (who was starting to fall asleep beside him), but as the thought of Wodensfang being out there still. _Somewhere_. With that realization… it gave him hope. Hope that his Papa was out there. _Somewhere_.

But the thought brought sadness as well.

 _It also could mean that he isn't,_ Toothless moaned.

 _Gods, I hope not._

* * *

 _So... let the feels commence!_

 _I know you guys are probably reluctant to see a sad Toothless, but he misses his Papa :(_

 _And thank you for favouriting, following, and reviewing this story :) I apologize for not answering your reviews sooner (every time I tried to access the reviews, it kept coming up as "reviews not found", but they came up this morning so it's all good)._

 _If there are any adorable moments you would like to see of Toothless and Wodensfang, I will gladly accept them (mostly because I'd like to see what you guys come up with as well XD)._

 _Happy belated Canada Day, and Independence Day! I will see you soon :)_


	3. Latest Development

_Memories: Journey Home_

 _Chapter 3: Latest Development_

The next morning, Hiccup made sure to wake up early to plan his trip.

It was not easy, he had to admit. He first thought to check the old maps in the infirmary, where they had been left to collect dust since the beginning days of Berk. How they had not been destroyed despite the millions of dragon raids was still a mystery to Hiccup.

There was nothing there. Just thousands of messages written by the past chiefs, his ancestors, trying to find where the Dragon Nest was. Starting as far as his great-great-grandfather, Hiccup the Searcher, who was the first Chief to try to search for the Nest. Surprisingly, he left a lot of notes about the currencies of the nest's raids, going as far into the mating season during Snoggletog (and how each raid after that time was significantly higher).

But it was one old book he found quite puzzling. After finding it in a box labeled " _HHH_ ", the young chief opened it with some force and peered inside. Instead of filled with old maps and threatening notes to kill all of the dragons, there were notes about Night Furies and something known as a _Wode s F ng_ (he cursed that the writing had smudged due to erosion).

Hiccup was surprised. This book, along with the chest, was no doubt the oldest artifact in the infirmary. And if he was correct… HHH referred to the first Hiccup: Hiccup Horrendous Haddock I, or _Hiccup the Dragon Slayer._

The young chief sighed. _The man I was named afte_ r. Well, him and his great-great uncle (Hiccup II). Not much was remembered from Hiccup the Dragon Slayer, but everyone knew of his accomplishments. How he was the one who found Berk over three hundred years ago, and who had started the raids with the dragons.

Yet, it was Bork the Bold who wrote about the Night Fury, and Bork wasn't born during Hiccup I's time.

 _So why does Hiccup I have tons of drawings of Night Furies?_ Hiccup wondered.

The chief decided to read through the notes as best of he could. Yet he could not make out much. All he could read were things like- " _Sometimes I feel like I am the only person who believes in dragons"_ , " _I met one today: a dragon with bat wings and blue eyes…"_. But the strangest part was that it would go to things like " _… I will purge the lands of all dragons, if I have to._ "

There was only one entry he could make out clearly:

 _He came back today: the strange dragon. At first, he seemed scared, and he got caught in a tree. I did my best to free him, thanks to my knife. Then, he landed and he walked over to me. It was weird... it was like he could understand what I had done for him. Can dragons really understand what we're saying?_

 _I got a good look at him. He had the body of a large beast, and small claws on each foot. His wings, again, were that of a bat, but a hundred times larger. Those wings could easily be longer than a house! And his tail consisted of fins like a fish. But the strangest part was his eyes: they changed from these thin slits to think pupils._

 _At first, I thought he was going to hurt me, but he was looking at the fist I had in my bag. I asked him if he wanted the fish... and it was remarkable! He actually spoke! Sure, it was only the word "fish", but it was still something!_

For some reason, Hiccup had to laugh. _Right, and I can speak Dragonese,_ he thought.

The book also showed drawings of a Night Fury that looked much like Toothless. Except… it was not as _dark_ as him. Toothless was distinctly blakc, as the name of the dragon species implied. Perhaps it was the age of the paper, but the dragon was a very dark blue. _And aren't Night Furies black?_ Plus the dragon was shown to have sky blue eyes and not green as Toothless' eyes were.

Hiccup sighed. Even with these drawings, it did not prove to help him get any closer to a Night Fury nest.

 _Thanks, Gramps_ , he muttered to himself.

That was when he decided to move to the library. Yes, Berk had a library. Well, it was a map room, but it only held other books like the _Dragon Manuel_ and _Gothi's Magic Manuel for Supernatural Remedies._ He had a little bit of more luck there, as there were some maps that charted the dragon raids and recorded the size of the Barbaric Archipelago.

It might have taken him a few hours to go through over hundreds of maps, but Hiccup was persistent. He will find a clue as to where a Night Fury nest was. And he was determined to do this for Toothless. He made a promise and he was not going to back down from it.

Just when he thought to give up for the day and have himself a break from staring at maps, he found something else: a record. He pulled it out and found that it was not as big as the other maps. Ones that spanned as long as a table from the Main Hall. No… this one was small. But he had seen it before. On his map.

He pulled in his suit and stretched his map out. In the top right hand corner, where he had been many times, was the same shape of the small map that he found. He folded the small map over the corner, and noticed the perfect alignment.

"I… I've _been_ here…" he realized. But-

He had only been there in the day.

A rush of excitement rushed through the chief. And relief. As though all of his worries and petty duties as a chief was overlooked. Now, he could forget the worry of not being to help his brother find a family.

 _Toothless isn't alone._

The chief cheered to himself. "My gods!" He immediately jumped on his feet and ran out the door. His mind was already set to whom he wanted to share the news with, but he figured he could surprise them later.

He barged in the armory house, where a woman his age was preparing her axe.

A sense of confusion crossed her face. "Hiccup? What is it?" she asked.

"Astrid…" he huffed. "I found the nest."

* * *

 _….Eight years ago…._

The teenage Night Fury slurped down his fish with anticipation.

It was not often that he thought of his mother. He had come to accept that she was gone, but he still missed her. Not that he was unhappy living with the Wodensfang; he loved his Papa. Yet, he maybe wished that he was not alone in raising him.

Blackfoot looked over and saw an older female. She might have been middle or late-aged, due to the tired blue eyes and the slight white on her jet black scales.

The teenager thought of something rather mischievous. " _Have you seen her before?_ " he asked.

The Wodensfang looked up and spotted the female. " _Yes, she's an older Night Fury._ "

" _Duh, but who is she?_ " he asked, rather annoyed. Sometimes, his adopted father could be so oblivious.

Wodensfang growled with uncertainty. " _I'm afraid to say that I have never spoken to her before._ " He shrugged. " _Her mate might have passed away not too long ago._ "

Blackfoot gestured his head to her. " _She's quite pretty_."

If there was an _ounce_ of attraction from the old dragon, he would have been blunt or very obvious of the fact. However, the teen did not see either in the old dragon's face. " _She… is she not too young?_ " he asked in confusion.

Blackfoot lowered his head. He… did not think _that_ part through. The old dragon was... well... _very_ old, older than any dragon known in the world. Even dragons like the Queen and her offspring did not live past a hundred and fifty winters. Then again… after what the Wodensfang said about the Jewel, it sounded as though it somehow kept him alive for so long.

" _You could just ask her what she thinks_ ," the teenager insisted.

There was a low laugh from the old dragon. " _I do not need a mate, Little One._ " Nudging his son affectionately, he added: " _All I need in my life to be happy is you in it."_

As touching as it was, it didn't calm Blackfoot's nerves. " _But what about if I leave?_ " he asked. Dragons were known to leaving their nests after they had matured (which could range from fifteen to twenty-one passing winters). Not that he wanted to leave; he wanted to stay with Wodensfang as long as he could. But he was approaching his fifteenth winter soon. " _I want to make sure you are taken care of._ "

" _Little One_ ," the Wodensfang purred, " _I do not need a mate to take care of me."_ He looked up in the sky. " _I never know how long I will be here. But I thank the Gods, or the ancestors, or whomever for the days I do get. And I am grateful for them_." Once again, he rubbed his head against Blackfoot's head. " _You really have changed my life for the better."_

It was hard not to purr happily to hear these words. He had loved being with the Wodensfang, despite the odd looks from the other dragons. They all knew how isolated he was from the herd. And to suddenly take in an orphaned hatchling in his old age… it was unheard of. Yet, the Wodensfang went against tradition and raised the hatchling to the teenager he was now. Soon, he would have to leave his adopted father, or keep away from him.

Blackfoot could not help but nuzzle his father back. " _I know. And you did that for me too_."

The two Night Furies purred happily.

" _I will admit though… she is quite pretty_ ," the Wodensfang whispered softly.

That caused a low laugh from the teenager.

* * *

It had been a long day for the Night Fury.

It wasn't like he did anything vigorous, anyway. Maybe… walked from the barn to the Jorgenson's to see why Hookfang was growling at another Monstrous Nightmare. And the Jorgenson house was not even a long walk (perhaps the next couple doors down from the Haddock home….). Afterwards… Toothless felt sore.

But waking up early proved to be a challenge. He tried to get himself up. He _really_ did. It was a ritual for him and Hiccup to wake up early and go flying. Well, he woke up Hiccup every morning to fly. But he enjoyed it, and the Viking seemed to like it, too.

Toothless felt sore _everywhere_.

He didn't really feel like eating, either. Which was strange; he was _always_ hungry. There wasn't a time in the day when he _wasn't_ eating. But his stomach felt… empty. Yet, it was full, at the same time. Like... the thought of eating a fish caused him to feel… not empty.

Not to mention that he just wanted to lie by the fireplace all day.

It was warm, despite only running in the night. It had a warmth to it; a _promise_ of warmth. And he found comfort in it. Even though he was uncomfortable everywhere else.

Like his head.

His chest.

His legs.

 _Everywhere_.

He looked outside, where the sun was shining. He could distinctly remember a time merely six winters ago when he couldn't bear through the sun. It was not like Night Furies to enjoy the sun. Let alone _tolerate_ the sun. They were nocturnal by nature, after all.

Despite that, Toothless soon adapted and adjusted to the Viking sleep patterns.

He smiled. It seemed so long ago when he and the Wodensfang flew together. In the evening sky. Where it was just him and his father. A low sigh escaped the dragon. He would do anything to relive those days, or even seen Wodensfang again.

Sighing, he placed his head on the window still. It was a challenge, but he somehow made it comfortable to look up at the sky. The blue atmosphere was so… welcoming. He could practically feel the wind his face.

 _Rooarooooo…._

Toothless lifted his head.

There was no doubt; _that_ was a dragon call. It was faint, but it was _definitely_ from a dragon. Years of living with dragons helped him distinct sounds from each dragon species.

But he knew what it was.

A _Night Fury_.

 _"Woddie?"_ Toothless called out.

* * *

 _Okay, I know I usually wait a few days so more reviews come in... but there was only one review for the entire update... :(_

 _It's okay, though :) The views doubled and there are more followers and favourites, which makes me so happy! :D_

 _I should have said this, but I will be posting the next updates on my profile for this story and Souls of Dragons. But I'll put them here for you to know :)_

 _Next update: July 10th._

 _See you then! :)_


	4. Truth Be Told

_Memories: Journey Home_

 _Chapter 4: Truth Be Told_

Astrid gaped. "Wait, what?" she asked. "I thought-"

"I know," Hiccup agreed. "I thought Mom was right about there being no Night Furies. But she had only been looking in the day. So have we. _That's_ the reason why we think they are none left: they are all nocturnal!" Hiccup said with happiness.

Astrid grinned widely. "My Gods, Hiccup! That's amazing!" Her excitement overtook her and she punched his shoulder with aggression.

Hiccup would have usually complained by her abuse, but he was too happy to respond to it. "And you won't guess where the nest is."

"Where?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup walked over to the table, and pulled the map out. He unwind the map over the table, and plopped the small map over the right corner. "See? This is Danger Breath Island. But we had not have seen Night Furies because we always went in the day."

"Of course," Astrid realized. "They _must_ be nocturnal. But where did you find the map?"

"In the old archives." His grin was incredibly large. "I… can't believe my luck. It-it has to be."

Astrid held his hand. "So… are you going to check it out?"

He turned to her. Running an awkward hand through his air, he chuckled. "Well… I talked to Mom about it yesterday, and she said she could keep an eye on the village for a couple of days." He smiled. "It would give us a little vacation, even though we're sort of working to find these Night Fur-"

"Shut up," she laughed. Placing a kiss on his lips, she added, "I think it's a great idea."

Hiccup smiled again. "You mean it? You want to help Toothless and I?"

There was an eye roll from the blonde maiden. "Babe, we already discussed this. Wherever you go, I go."

Something told Hiccup that he was not going to receive a no from her. Then again, he didn't want her to. He wanted his wife to be with him when he found more Night Furies. To see an entire hidden species, and he would have been the first to find it. To bring Toothless home. His _real_ home.

Through all that excitement, Hiccup realized a crucial factor. And it must have been apparent on his face.

Astrid raised an eyebrow. "What's the matter?" she asked.

Hiccup sighed. "Toothless… is not like other dragons. He would gladly stay with me and allow me to fly with him. But…" he looked in her sapphire eyes. "What if Toothless doesn't want to go back home with us?"

Astrid opened her mouth, but did not say anything.

Hiccup rubbed his eyes, tiredly. All he wanted to do was to sit and just eat. Or drink ale, if he had to. To just forget about any mess on Berk for at least a week. A day, even. He just wanted to go back to the time where all he had to worry was to fly early in the morning with Toothless.

Even _he_ did not know why he was worrying about Toothless' loyalty at this moment. Even when he knew Toothless would lay his life to save him. He had proved it many times during their time together; it didn't make sense to question it.

Astrid rubbed his shoulder affectionately. "Hiccup, you and Toothless have been through a lot together. I doubt he would betray that."

"You don't know that, Astrid. When I found Mom, I wanted to stay with her… for a split second. I wanted to escape Dad's duties… I wanted to stay with her."

"Okay… so why didn't you?" she asked.

Hiccup glanced back at her. But he didn't say anything. His eyes were full of secrets. Somethings that even Astrid did not have access to. It was thought he was the one who could not express his emotions with words.

And Hiccup didn't want to show anything.

"Why didn't you?" she repeated.

The Chief's arms flew in the air. "Because of _you_!" Hiccup said, with a frustrated tone. "Because deep down, I couldn't leave you. You would not have wanted me to turn my back on Berk. And I knew that I had to man up and take this chief duty seriously."

Astrid frowned. "Hiccup-"

"No, I'm not done. You are the toughest Viking I know. And to… for me to give up… I couldn't do it." He sighed. "Yea, with Dad passing and finding Mom… it was hard. I didn't know how to be a chief. But I knew I would have Dad's lessons, Mom… and you."

Astrid didn't say anything.

Hiccup sighed, in a defeated tone. "Look, if you're going to hit me for making this sound corny, you might as well do it now-"

Instead, Astrid kissed him.

"Okay, are you feeling alright?" Hiccup asked, after finally getting air. "You are never this… girly."

"Hey, I have feelings. I just don't show them as much," Astrid insisted. "Besides… you are strong, Hiccup. You went through so much in the span of five years. Not only did you and Toothless stop the three hundred year war, you stopped people like Alvin, Dagur, and Drago Bludvist." She smiled. "Not to mention you had to literally rebuild Berk and become Chief. If that isn't strength, I don't know what is."

Hiccup nodded.

"If Toothless knew at all how you felt," Astrid offered, "maybe he would understand. He's a smart dragon, you know."

Hiccup smiled. "The smartest there is."

* * *

 _….Twenty years ago…_

Blackfoot watched as the yearlings played with each other.

It had been a long time since he had the chance to play with dragons his age. Sure, they were Monstrous Nightmares, but it was better than nothing. He felt a bit of longing to play with them. And it didn't help that he was starting to wake up, and they were going to be sleeping soon.

He walked over to them. " _Hi, there!"_

The yearlings looked up at him, with their yellow and blue eyes, tired as they were. Blackfoot didn't understand why the Monstrous Nightmares stayed awake in the suntime, and slept in the night _. It's quite odd_ , he admitted.

" _Look, guys. It's that runt who lived with the old dragon!"_ one of the yellow-eyed yearlings said.

A blue-eyed yearling laughed. " _Right, because his mother left him!"_

Blackfoot stepped back. _How did these guys know?_ he thought to himself. " _My mom didn't leave me!"_ he insisted, with a weaker voice than he had anticipated. _"She was killed by a Whispering Death!"_

…

 _The hatchling watched from the distance as his mother faced the Whispering Death. He had never seen his mother so scary before. There was true anger in her eyes, something he was not used to seeing._

 _Yet, he wanted to help her. This was what Night Furies were meant to do, right? He spent hours playing with his fellow hatchlings so they could train for this. Yes. He had to help his mother._

 _He pushed his head against the Wodensfang's leg, and spread his small wings out. He made up his mind._

 _He was saving his mother._

 _Like she saved him and Woddie._

 _The runt pounced on the Whispering. Retracted teeth, barely sharp enough to tear through a fish, met the flesh of his mother's nemesis. He saw victory in his surprise attack, holding tight in his grip._

 _There was a roar from a male dragon._

 _His mother cried in surprise and she dove to her son. He hit his head against the hard stone, and caused his world to spin. He could not recall much. His mother's much larger body shielded him from the next attack from her nemesis._

 _R-ii-ppp!_

 _He cried in the pain of the sound. It was not his pain, but he heard it come from his mother. It was the sound of teeth ripping through flesh. Like when his mother bit the Whispering Death._

 _The hatchling found teeth clinging to his wings. No! Is it the Whispering Death? Not a hard clamp. Barely a tug in his wings, like Woddie clung to him. Turing his head up, he saw his friend carry him by his wings, and running rather fast._

 _But why is he running? he wondered. Something in his gut told him that Woddie was running from something, obviously. He almost did not allow himself to dart his attention to his mother. Afraid of what he might see._

 _But he did._

 _Oh no._

 _His mother was fighting. She stood on her back legs and swiped the Whispering Death rather harshly with a clawed front paw. It was dripping in a type of water, and it met her nemesis' face in a vigorous motion. He barely noticed her weakening strength._

 _But a red substance escaped from three large wounds on her:_

 _Her neck._

 _Her head._

 _Her tail._

 _Except…. There was no fins on her tail._

 _They were gone._

 _He wanted to scream at the sight of his mother. For her to stop fighting. Wh-why is she still fighting? He struggled against the Wodensfang's grip on his wings. No! He needed to see his mother._

 _"Keep your head down!" he thought he heard the Wodensfang shout. But he could not hear anything passed the pain-filled hollers of both his mother and the Whispering Death._

 _The last thing he saw before he blacked out was his mother falling._

 _Collapsing._

…

Blackfoot shook his head, trying to stop that bad memory from completely resurfacing. But it played again in his head, and there was no stop.

The biggest one walked over to Blackfoot. " _Is it true? Your mother's gone?"_ he asked.

Blackfoot nodded slowly. " _But she saved me_ ," he insisted. " _She was brave."_

A laugh escaped from the Monstrous Nightmare. " _Brave? I think she was stupid. Who would save a runt like you?"_ he sneered.

The runt bowed his head down. He could feel tears form in his eyes, and he didn't want to be ridiculed for crying, either. He slumped away from the laughing yearlings and hid to where the adults were eating.

Some of the other adults were eating, not paying attention to the little Night Fury. Blackfoot ultimately curled up and tried to ignore the awful things those yearlings told him. But were they right? Was it really his fault that his mother was dead?

He didn't even notice that the old dragon joined him.

" _Blackfoot, you barely touched your food_ ," Wodensfang noted.

The yearling looked down at his food. The slimy fish laid still in front of him, staring with empty eyes. It would have been appealing for him, if he wasn't thinking so hard.

 _"I'm… not hungry right now, Woddie_ ," Blackfoot admitted.

Wodensfang tilted his head. " _What's the matter?_ " he asked. " _You're always hungry."_

Despite the sarcasm, Blackfoot didn't respond.

" _Do you want to do something fun?"_ Wodensfang asked. The old dragon smirked with his old teeth showing. "We can play fight," he said, nudging his son. " _You love that game, don't you?"_ he asked. He got up and started to pull on his ear with a little bit of aggression.

Again, the young Night Fury didn't move.

" _Son… are you alright?"_ Wodensfang asked, with sincere.

…

 _"Mom… wake up Mom."_

 _He nudged his head against hers with force. She had to get up! Why wasn't she waking up? "You got to get up, Momma!" He tugged on her ear. "The bad dragon's gone now."_

 _"Woddie… what's wrong with her?" he asked, scared of what he would hear. He noticed his voice was high and squeaked._

 _The old dragon sighed. "She… she's gone."_

 _"Where?" he pushed further. He knew the answer, but he wanted Woddie to be wrong. He did not want to hear the answer._

 _"She's gone."_

 _It was thought his entire young life had crashed. He felt alone. Cold. Just like his mother was at the moment. He didn't want to leave, but he did not want to stay. He just wanted his mother._

 _He couldn't tell if it was rain or his own tears that fell down his face._

 _The hatchling released the loudest roar he could conjure up. It rang in his ears, but he did not care. It was not as bad as the pain that he felt knowing that he was alone. That his mother was gone. His head and chest hurt more than his ears._

 _Weakly, he rested his head on hers._

…

Blackfoot glanced down at his feet _. "It's all my fault, isn't it?_ " he assumed. _"It's my fault Momma's gone, isn't it?"_

The old dragon's eyes suddenly widened, as though he realized something. _"Oh. I see."_

" _Why didn't I try to help her?"_ he said, as tears started to stream down his face. " _I should've tried to help her…."_

" _Oh, it's not your fault_ ," the Wodensfang insisted. " _It's no one's fault, really. Now, you pay attention to ole Woddie, okay?"_

Blackfoot wiped his eyes. " _Yea._ "

" _The great circle of life has begun. We all, at some point, are born, then we die. We meet in a special place, but you see? Not all of us end up there at the same time."_

Blackfoot nodded. " _I still miss her, Woddie. I still miss my Momma."_

Wodensfang rubbed his head against his son. " _And you'll always miss her, Little One_." He nudged his head. " _Look at me, Blackfoot._ " The yearling lifted his head, and looked in the old dragon's greying eyes. " _Do you remember the things she taught you?"_

Blackfoot nodded.

" _Then, in a way… you'll never be apart. She'll always be there for you, in some way or another._ " He showed his teeth, in an affectionate way. " _You know… when I first saw you, you reminded me of my friend from a long time ago."_

" _The one who named you?"_ Blackfoot asked, his ears perking up. " _I remind you of him?_ "

" _Definitely. He was a fun friend to be around."_ Wodensfang chuckled. " _One time… he tried to throw a fish at me, and it flopped off my head. I got up and chased him around until I tackled him."_

Blackfoot started to laugh. " _Just like how we tackle?"_

Before the Wodensfang could answer, the little yearling jumped on his back and began to pull at the old dragon's ears. He growled mockingly as he took down his much older opponent, and his paws gripped the Wodensfang's head for support.

He didn't anticipate the old dragon to twist his body and grab a hold of his scruff. Blackfoot giggled as Wodensfang held him in the air and toss him to his feet. _Just like old time_ , Blackfoot thought, as he ran back up to the old dragon and tackled him once again.

The two continued to play until the sun began to set, and

* * *

Astrid was excited.

She and Hiccup were finally going to have some alone time.

It had been a long time since they could do something like this. Maybe a year. Then again, they had talked about getting married. However, they both agreed that the past year was hectic and they had to wait a little longer on that.

But _Night Furies_. As is _plural_.

She had to admit, she never thought she would ever see another Night Fury. At least in her early years. She felt that it was such an honor to finally find more of the mysterious species _. And Toothless would have a family._

She sighed.

The past year had been difficult for Hiccup, and getting married not three months ago was probably not helpful. Not only was it a push from the other tribes for Hiccup to get married and have heirs, but the planning was a huge strain on him.

And he hadn't had time with Toothless.

Astrid stopped sharpening her axe. _When was the last time they went flying?_

Chief work, and Alpha stuff she guessed, was hard for both Hiccup and Toothless. They were not as… in synch as they used to be. It was seldom that they were apart, but Astrid could see in both their eyes that they took their roles as leaders seriously.

Astrid noticed it the day Mulch decided to remove Bucket's… well, bucket... off his head. It caused screaming on both Bucket and Mulch's parts, but the town was so divided by this issue that they interrupted Hiccup from preparing to go out to fly.

As for Toothless, if anyone could believe, had to intervene in a fiasco between two Monstrous Nightmares that were eating most of the fish during the village's parade of "Break the Bucket" champagne (no, it was not named this, but Astrid considered it humorous).

Both leaders, it seemed, had taken the toll rather hard.

Astrid looked down at Toothless. For some reason, the dragon was moaning. She bent down and rubbed his scales. The Night Fury's scales looked... well, they were not as shiny as they used to be. And Toothless' tongue was sticking out a little.

"Toothless?" she whispered.

Oh no.

Was he-

Astrid gulped. She pushed the dragon a little, hoping he would move. And yet... The dragon did not move. He merely moaned again, and breathed in heavily.

The maiden stood up and fetched two buckets from outside. She tried to give him fish and a bucket of water, but Toothless did not budge. With both forms of energy presented to the dragon... he didn't even look at it. All he did was roll his eyes and moan.

Astrid was not sure what else to do. She had no experience with sick dragons, but even sick dragons knew to try to drink water. _But who else would know about Night Furies?_

The idea was suddenly in her head. "Hold on, Toothless. I'm going to get Hiccup," she promised. She rubbed his head with her thumb, feeling his heartbeat. It was steady, but it seemed fainter than usual.

Toothless moved his head and looked up at her. His eyes were dull, and fully dilated. " _Please_ ," he seemed to say.

Astrid got up and ran outside. If she knew her husband's schedule as well as he did, he was in the infirmary working on some weapons. She jumped on Stomfly's back and the dragon was quick to get to Hiccup.

The young Chief worked hard on a new sword, while talking to Gobber and Valka. Astrid did not hear the conversation entirely, as though her mind wouldn't allow her to.

"Hiccup!" she shouted.

Hiccup looked up and smiled, as Astrid jumped off Stormfly. "Oh, hey Astrid. I was just talking to Mom and Gobber about our little trip-"

"-and that can wait," Astrid interrupted. "Something's wrong with Toothless."

The young man's eyes widened. "What?"

Astrid took a deep breath. "I'm not exactly sure, but he's moaning by the fireplace and he won't eat or drink anything."

Valka looked over to Hiccup, who was speechless. "If you don't mind, I can check what the matter is."

Hiccup nodded, as he threw off his apron and exited the armory. He ran up on Stormfly with Astrid, and both took off with her. Valka was seen climbing on Cloudjumper, and the two dragons raced to the Haddock home quickly.

Astrid just hoped Toothless would be okay.

* * *

 _I apologise again for the lateness. I wanted this to be up by yesterday, but time did not allow me to XD._

 _If there is some confusion with the "memories" part, it supposed to be a flashback to when Blackfoot/Toothless was younger (since I cannot say the dreaded "d" word)._

 _Update for "Souls of Dragons" will be for tomorrow, or late tonight._

 _Thanks, and I'll see you soon! Don't forget to review :)_


	5. The Heart's Ache

_Memories: Journey Home_

 _Chapter 5: The Heart's Ache_

Hiccup couldn't think.

There was nothing to think about.

Except for one thing:

 _What- what is wrong with Toothless?_

Hiccup thought back to the past few days. What had happened? Did Toothless get into something poisonous? But... he didn't show any signs of eating eel or the blue dragon flowers. And there had not been any new plants that came to Berk recently.

"Hiccup, you have to stop pacing."

The young Chief looked over at Astrid, who was sitting on the counter in the kitchen. "How are you so calm during all _this_? There's something _wrong_ with Toothless!"

Astrid sighed. "I know, but watching you pace is making me dizzy." She jumped off and walked over to Hiccup. "Look, maybe I was seeing things. Toothless hardly gets sick-"

"-so why is my mother over by the fireplace and putting herbs all over him?" he asked.

Hiccup waited for Astrid to answer. But, as the seconds passed, she did not give an answer. Hiccup tried not to think about it; it was terrible enough that he didn't even know what was wrong with his dragon. And he couldn't do anything about it.

"Hiccup-" Astrid reached for him.

"I know," Hiccup agreed. "I'm just…. scarred."

Astrid sighed, and rubbed his arms gently. "He's strong, Hiccup. He'll make through it."

"Son?"

Both Hiccup and Astrid faced the middle-aged woman at the opening to the kitchen. She carried a bucket containing herbal medicine and her hands were greased with the remains. Hiccup tried tno not stare at the medicine as much as he was, but he couldn't help it. _Please tell me he's okay…_

"Well, what seems to be wrong with him?" Hiccup asked, finally.

Valka headed for the sink, and grabbed a bucket to wash her hands. "He's seems perfectly healthy." Hiccup noticed how she wasn't looking at them, directly.

Astrid raised an eyebrow. "But what about his heart? It was beating really dim."

"It's because he's refusing to eat," Valka explained, as though it was perfectly obvious. "And why he's not eating…. Well, I am not positive, but I have an idea."

Hiccup grabbed Astrid's hand out of comfort. "What is it?" he asked.

Valka rubbed her hands. "I have seen it in many dragons the past twenty years. Many years of separation from family, or witnessing a terrible past life… it's noticeable in many dragons. I'm just surprised Toothless has come across it. He just seemed so…. happy." She sighed. "I never expected Toothless to feel like this."

Hiccup stayed quiet. His mind was already racing, and he had fathomed the worst outcome.

It took every ounce of his being to answer. "Mom… are you saying Toothless is… depressed?"

A slow nod from Valka caused Hiccup to run to the living room.

Toothless laid down on the ground. He no longer was facing the fire, but his eyes were empty. Yes, his pupils were full, but they were empty. They no longer held the excited, happy Toothless that Hiccup was accustomed to. There was… _nothing_.

Hiccup placed his hand on Toothless' head. "I'm sorry, bud."

Toothless purred silently, and closed his eyes.

The young chief suddenly felt… unsure. He hadn't felt like this since he took on the chief duties left by his father. And what could he do, to help Toothless? Depression was not unknown on Berk, but it was considered life-threatening. Hiccup grew up listening to Vikings from Berk and beyond who suddenly became depressed. Most…. caused their deaths.

Did this mean the same for Toothless?

Hiccup stood up and walked back in the kitchen.

"Why would he grow depressed all the sudden?" Hiccup finally asked.

Valka shook her head. "It's hard to say. No one _suddenly_ gets depressed. Then again, I am no expert in depression. For dragons…. It must be different. Toothless might be finally feeling all this pressure from the past year."

Hiccup didn't respond _. If his alpha title's the reason…_

"So…" Astrid spoke up. "If we found something to help him, it should help, right?"

"It depends…" Valka said. "Some dragons have grown out of it. Why… the Hobblegrunt who was blinded, she was depressed at first. Wouldn't eat for days, it seemed. Once I had her interacting with the other dragons… she was an entirely new dragon."

"But you're not certain?" Astrid asked.

"Like I said, I have little experience with depression," Valka said. "The best we can do right now is allow Toothless to rest, and when he is ready, we will help motivate him."

Hiccup tried to listen to his mother's advice, but it was starting to sound like prescriptions. It wasn't helping Toothless feel better. So standing around would not be helping at all. _No one can catch me sitting around and do nothing._

Hiccup walked past his dragon and walked out the door. He needed to find a way to help Toothless, and staying here was not going to help him. He didn't know what he was going to do… but there was something he had to try.

He just _had_ to.

For his best friend.

* * *

 _….Eight Years Ago…._

The teenager rolled over on his stomach.

It had been hours- or what felt like hours- since he tried to convince his father to socialize. Then again, he recalled that the old dragon was not one to socialize. He did spend many winters by himself, secluded from the rest of the Night Fury herd.

 _Why is he so stubborn?_ The teen thought to himself.

He looked back at the old dragon. It just occurred to him that he had not heard of the old dragon ever having a mate in his life. Otherwise, he would have had some descendants. Even if it was merely a couple.

So why did he never mate?

The teen shifted his head to the direction of the old female Night Fury. Her scales, a dark purple colour, were quite pretty. He had to admit, she would have been a good candidate in her younger years as a potential mate for younger males. The male who had won her heart was a lucky Night Fury, for sure.

He crawled over to the purple Night Fury.

" _What are you doing here alone?_ " he asked.

The female Night Fury cooed. " _Shouldn't you be with your grandfather over there? He barely lets you out of his sight._ "

The teen gave her a curious look. " _My grandfather?"_ he asked. He glanced back at the Wodensfang. " _Oh. My father. Right. Well, he's sleeping, so what does he know_?" he asked.

" _You are quite gutsy_ ," she noted. " _I have never seen a more secluded dragon before._ "

 _This isn't going the way I thought_. He ruffed. " _He's a nice guy, once you get to know him_." He shrugged. " _He just had a difficult past."_

" _Don't we all?"_ the female grunted. " _My mate was killed in a raid no too long ago."_

Blackfoot bowed his head, solemnly. " _I-I'm sorry for your loss_." He sighed. " _I lost my mother to a Whispering Death many winters ago._ "

There was a flicker of sympathy from the old female. " _Well, at least we have those in our lives to live for._ " She purred as she looked at a licorice black Night Fury. " _If my grandniece was not here to see me, I don't know what I would do."_

The teen quickly looked at the female from a few meters from them. She had deep blue eyes and her scales were quite shiny. _She_ is _sort of pretty, for a dragon,_ Blackfoot admitted to himself.

" _The Wodensfang had a friend a long time ago, and he has a hard time on expressing himself_ ," Blackfoot explained, changing the subject. " _Which is why he doesn't like to socialize all that much_."

" _Why do you refer to him as the Wodensfang?_ " she asked. " _I know you two have not been at this nest for a long time, but it is strange that you call him that._ "

It had just occurred to him that he didn't know the true reason why his father was known as the Wodensfang. Many winters ago, his mother said that the ancestors gave him a name. Which was strange for a dragon; they never got names. _Woddie always said that it was never needed._

" _I am not sure why_ ," he admitted. " _But it must have something to do with his friend that he lost many winters ago_."

The old dragon nodded in agreement. " _Some of us, especially the oldest, have the biggest secrets_ ," she explained. " _It makes sense; we have lived here the longest_."

Blackfoot nodded sadly. He did not want to admit, but the old female was right. The Wodensfang was still keeping part of his life a secret from him.

And it hurt.

* * *

For the most part, Toothless hardly ate.

He tried to, he really did. But it wouldn't stay in his stomach. It was though his stomach was already full. Yet, he could hear his emptiness groan through the night, and passed the next day. It hurt, and he could do nothing about it.

He sighed, as he looked up at Hiccup, who was sitting in a chair beside the fire. How long had Hiccup sat there? He couldn't remember. Heck, he would be lucky to remember when Hiccup even noticed how weak Toothless was feeling.

Hiccup slumped out of his chair and brushed Toothless' scales. "Bud, I don't know if you can hear me… I just want to let you know that… you're going to be okay. I…" the boy bent down to Toothless' level. "I found this" he held an old toy up.

Toothless recognized the toy. Hiccup had once retrieved it during a boating incident, and Stoick had explained how Valka made it for baby Hiccup. Apparently, the infant Hiccup tossed it overseas after Valka disappeared. _I know how that feels_ , Toothless admitted.

"It was mine when I was little. It… made me feel better when I got it back. It reminded me of Mom, and it helped me cope with her being gone." He smiled, resting the toy against the dragon, then returned to his chair. "But you helped me get her back, bud. So thank you."

The dragon cooed softly at the boy's gesture.

The boy – no, he wasn't a boy anymore. Hiccup had proven many times during his time with Toothless how much of a man he had become. This… selfless young man who was willing to give away his oldest treasure, and memory, of his mother to a friend. If that wasn't a good leader, the dragon didn't know what was.

Toothless would have smiled, if the muscles in his mouth permitted to. _Hiccup's a full Alpha now. He's grown up._

" _Humans grow up too fast_ ," he muttered.

Hiccup's head shot up, and he jumped out of his chair. "Toothless, did you speak?"

" _Of course I did_ ," the Night Fury purred, with a hint of weak sarcasm. " _I'm always talking."_

The young Viking bent down and hugged the dragon's neck. Toothless noticed how hard Hiccup was squeezing him. Not to the point of choking, of course. Hiccup, sadly, would never be strong enough to do _that._

"I'm so glad you're okay, bud! You had me worried," Hiccup muttered in Toothless' scales.

Toothless squinted his eyes. " _Did you…. think I was dying?"_ he asked, with worry in his voice. Sure, he was feeling sore, but he didn't want Hiccup to think he was… well, going to join the ancestors anytime soon.

Hiccup must have understood the dragon's tone, because the Viking rubbed Toothless' head in affection. "I'm just happy you're okay, bud." He suddenly leaned away from Toothless, and pulled out one of those sheets of papers with drawings on it. "Look, you're not going to believe this, bud! I found a Night Fury nest!"

The words didn't seem to register in Toothless' mind, at first. He stared at the young man with a questionable look. _Did-did he say what I think he said?_

"We're going on a trip to find your family," Hiccup explained.

The dragon's mouth dropped _. My…_ family _?_

Toothless found his tail started to wag. It beat against the hardwood floor unsteadily, and Toothless was sure it would bust through the floor if he didn't stop soon. But he couldn't control the immediate happiness within in.

Was it _true_?

Did Hiccup really find his _Papa_?

The dragon stood up, hardly feeling any pain in his body. He could feel a huge human smile grow on his face, as he jumped on Hiccup and began to lick his entire body. The boy tried to resist, but Toothless didn't care.

" _I can't believe it!"_ Toothless said. " _I'm going to see my Papa!"_

"Yea, bud! I think this island has Night Furies on it!" Hiccup emphasized, excitedly. "It's funny, because we've actually been there before. We've only gone in the day." He frowned. "Why didn't you tell me you were nocturnal?"

The Night Fury immediately caught on that the young man was teasing him. " _I would have, but you're oblivious to Dragonese,"_ he muttered sarcastically.

"I'm sorry. I guess I messed up your sleep schedule, didn't I?" Hiccup asked. He stood up and wiped the dragon's saliva off him. "I just hope your mother or father don't give me too much trouble about your sleeping habits."

Toothless laughed. " _No, but Wodensfang will definitely think you're some peg-legged freak."_ The Night Fury stood up with Hiccup and nuzzled his hip. " _That old dragon might not take too kindly to you at first, but he'll warm up to you."_

 _If he's still alive,_ a thought occurred to him.

A sudden pain hit him in the chest. It wasn't too bad, but it did spread back throughout his body. Toothless cringed. What was happening to him? He looked up at Hiccup, but he tried hard not to show his pain.

"I think seeing your family will help you, bud." Hiccup patted the dragon's head. "We go early tomorrow, okay?" Hiccup smiled, and walked out the door.

Toothless laid back down, and rested his head against the cool ground. He felt alright, with Hiccup's comforting words. The praises, and the thought of seeing other Night Furies… it was _unbelievable_. Toothless hadn't seen Hiccup this charismatic since before Drago attacked Berk.

And yet…Was there any chance that Wodensfang was still out there?

Toothless groaned, sadly. _I hope so._

* * *

 _Hey, guys. I know the last chapter was kind of harsh, but it'll get better soon._

 _Yes, there is some depression from Toothless. Now, I've never experienced depression before (personally), so I appologize beforehand if this is not what depression is like. Truthfully, I can only relate to how Hiccup's feeling._

 _Please review :) I love hearing your input :)_

 _Also, to those who read "Souls of Dragons", I will update that soon. I'm just having a hard time writing an entire chapter for Astrid XD._

 _See you soon :)_


	6. Revelations

_Memories: Journey Home_

 _Chapter 6: Revelations_

"Alright. We're ready to leave."

Hiccup added the last part of his packing and closed his bag up, which was his sketchbook and a lead pencil. Already he had packed food enough to last himself and Astrid to last for at least three days. Then there was the blankets, extra clothes, camping cloth (if it rained and a cave was not close by), his map, and other things he would need (such as Dragon Nip, if any Night Furies were… less than friendly).

Astrid rolled her eyes. "Do you _really_ need all those things?"

"Milady, these are the essentials of tracking new dragons," Hiccup insisted. "Who knows how long it'll take us to find the Night Furies."

The maiden chuckled, as she hoisted her backpack on her back. It was larger than Hiccup's, but her muscle tone was exceptionally larger than his, and she carried with ease. "Alright, Mr. Dragon Master, but don't complain to me when your so-called _essentials_ fail you."

Hiccup shrugged. "What did you pack, then?"

"A woman never tells what she packed," Astrid insisted, with a smile on her face. "My mother said it's because men can't handle what a woman keeps on her."

The young chief glanced back from adding one more thing to his bag. "Really. Like what?" he asked, with actual interest.

"Well, when a woman is on her monthly-"

" _Gah_!" Hiccup cringed, as he walked out of the kitchen. "Too much information, Astrid!"

He ignored Astrid's attempt to explain that it was her monthly condition that allowed her to bear him children ("Babe, if you want children someday-"). He sat in the chair in the living room, beside Toothless, who was still sitting by the fire. The dragon was staring at the dancing flame, which was an improvement from the other day, when he barely looked at it. Toothless seemed oddly interested with the fire, as though it communicated with him.

 _I wonder what dragons think about_ , Hiccup thought.

"Hey, bud."

Toothless lifted his head and glanced up at Hiccup. His eyes were full, as they used to be before his sudden reluctance to eat or drink anything (Hiccup refused to admit that Toothless was depressed). He purred, and he gave Hiccup a small smile.

Hiccup took the invitation as a way of acceptance, and placed his hand on the dragon's snout. "We're all ready to go, bud. Are you ready to see your family again?" he asked.

The dragon tiled his head, but he didn't try to get up.

 _Maybe he needs another motivation._ "Come on, bud. You want to go flying?" Hiccup tried.

Toothless moaned sadly.

Hiccup bent down to the dragon's height, and sat with the dragon. Slowly, he began to pet the dragon's scales. _Hmm… they're not as smooth as they used to be…_ The dragon was known for cleaning his scales often, but Hiccup hadn't seen Toothless clean his scales much lately. Nevertheless, Toothless seemed to enjoy the movement, so he purred to the beat of each of Hiccup's strokes.

"What's it going to take to get you to get up?" Hiccup asked. "You want to see your family, don't you?"

The dragon murmured something, like a phrase in the reptile's language. It was low, and sounded like a sad purr. Hiccup wasn't entirely sure what Toothless was saying, but it _definitely_ sounded like he was trying to communicate with Hiccup. And he was _sure_ Toothless was; he was known to say a few things in Norse (he would gargle out " _No_ " from time to time).

"I can't understand you, bud," Hiccup admitted.

Toothless rolled his eyes, and created a loud yawn. His head then rested back on his front paws, seemingly ignoring the young Chief. With a light shift, he turned his body and looked away from Hiccup. Another groan released from his mouth.

"Great…" Hiccup muttered. "You're ignoring me now."

The Chief shifted, so he wasn't looking at Toothless. Playfully, he folded his arms over his chest and pouted his lower lip. _Maybe… if he thinks I'm upset…_ Hiccup thought. This particular tactic worked on the stubborn Night Fury when Hiccup wanted him to play. Or when Toothless was being his stubborn self and Hiccup was just teasing him. Toothless, again, usually went along with it.

However, Toothless didn't move.

Hiccup sighed once again. _It's like talking to a stubborn child._

 _Wait…_

The Chief smiled to himself. He got up on his feet, and balanced on his flesh leg. He swung his arms and began to walk to the kitchen, his back to the Night Fury. "Alright, then. I guess I'm going there alone." He sighed, with the same smirk on his face. "Just me. With Astrid. And…" he thought for a moment. "I'll just have to ride Stormfly, then. She'll want to come-"

Hiccup was soon met with a slobbering tongue, and sticky saliva (a terrible mixture of substances, in his opinion). Not to mention the big, ugly dragon that owned both of those things. It didn't help that said dragon had the skinny young man pinned to the ground, and locked in between two legs so he couldn't escape.

"Okay! _Okay_ , bud! You wanna go now, I get it!" Hiccup said through disgusted laughs and chokes. He pushed the dragon away. "Fine. Let's get your tail attached, and we'll go."

Toothless leaped back and grinned.

Hiccup grinned, too, as his plan worked out perfectly.

* * *

 _….Eight years ago…._

" _Papa?"_ Blackfoot asked.

Wodensfang tilted his head. " _Oh, hello, Little One_." He nudged his son. " _What seems to be the problem?"_ he asked.

Blackfoot shifted his feet. His mind was going back to the old female dragon from the other day. Their conversation kept him up all night, and he wanted clarification on an issue. _"Wodensfang, what happened with Hiccup?"_

The old dragon stopped. " _What… what do you mean?"_

The teenager rolled his eyes, and stood up. " _You know exactly what I mean. Why don't you ever want to talk about him?"_ he asked. When the old dragon didn't answer, he continued, " _Every time I ask about him, you just shrug it off and tell me that it's nothing_."

Wodensfang sighed, with a low rumble. " _You're right, Blackfoot. I do avoid talking about Hiccup. But I cannot speak to you about it without you hating me_." He looked at the ground. " _It's a part of my life I never want to come across_."

" _Papa_ , _I'm not a little hatchling anymore_ ," Blackfoot insisted. He sat back down and laid his legs out. " _I can handle it._ "

The old dragon nodded. " _Alright… but I did warn you_." He sighed once again. " _There was this old artifact, known as the Dragon Jewel. It could create immense power over people_ -"

" _I know about the stone_ ," Blackfoot interrupted, " _but what does it have to do with your friend?_ "

" _The Jewel had everything to do with Hiccup_ ," Wodensfang explained. " _He became possessed under the control of it. He was… powerless…to the stone's powers, and he would want to take it_."

Blackfoot gulped. He had heard how the stone could control the will of those who were desperate. " _So… Hiccup was weak?"_

" _Not exactly."_ The old dragon sighed again. " _The Queen of the nest… she wanted to attack Berk. I tried to stop them, but their control under the Queen was strong. I went to Berk faster than them… and I warned Hiccup. But then…"_

The teen sat down, waiting patiently for his father to answer. " _What, Papa?"_ Blackfoot asked.

The old dragon's eyes began to water. " _Hiccup's brother attacked me, but I thought he was trying to hurt Hiccup. I… blacked out because I was so full of rage. When… when I woke up again… I found Hiccup holding his dead brother."_

Blackfoot gaped.

" _You-you mean you_ -"

" _Yes, I did_ ," Wodensfang confessed. He wasn't looking at Blackfoot anymore. He no longer had the courage to do so. " _So I flew away from Berk. But then I realized I lost the Stone… I went back and Hiccup had possessed it. He started to hunt the dragons for sport… I couldn't stop him."_

Another deep breath. _"I returned many years later, and I fought Hiccup. When I had the chance… I took the stone from him, and destroyed it. But he had grown attached to it, and he begged me to kill him. I couldn't, so…_ "

Wodensfang's heartbeat was heavy, and he was fighting to control his uneven breathing. _"….he stabbed himself with his own blade."_

For the most part, Blackfoot was shocked.

He knew that the old dragon was quiet, and hardly interacted with other dragons… but was this why he was always so secluded? But the truth of it… it made sense. The Wodensfang never, at least from what he told Blackfoot, had a close dragon friend. In addition… he never had a mate. _It's a terrible life_ , Blackfoot admitted to himself.

" _You… kept this to yourself… this whole time?"_ Blackfoot finally asked.

For some reason, the old dragon was unable to form any words. Well, he couldn't say anything Dragonese. He kept forming this strange sound from his mouth, and tears were falling down his face. Blackfoot almost backed away, but he knew he had to stay and comfort his father figure.

" _I never…."_ he sniffed. " _I never told anyone this before."_

Blackfoot didn't know what to say. There were so many mixed emotions he was feeling, and he wasn't sure how to make sense of any of them. One side of him wanted to yell, and demand why he was never told of this. Another part of him wanted to cry, and feel bad for his papa.

Instead, he nudged his head against his father.

" _I don't like it that you kept it from me_ ," Blackfoot admitted, " _but I don't hate you_. _I could never hate you._ " He, again, rubbed his head against Wodensfang. " _I'm sorry this happened to you, Papa_." The teenager purred. " _I'm glad you finally trusted me enough to tell me your past. It must have been hard."_

Suddenly, Wodensfang drew Blackfoot in a hug.

For dragons, hugging was merely resting heads against the other's shoulders. It was an intertwining of two souls, in their minds, and a close bond between the two. It was mostly common between a parent and child, and two lovers. It was rare for those who were not related by blood.

Blackfoot could feel Wodensfang shake on his shoulder. " _Please don't cry, Woddie. I'm not angry with you."_

 _"I'm happy, Little One. I can finally die in peace, knowing you're okay with what I did."_

The certainty in his voice was startling… but Blackfoot was too caught up in the moment to fully realize how much of the truth Wodensfang meant.

But for now, all was well.

* * *

The wind was relaxing, for the most part.

Toothless could literally feel the excitement of flying course through his veins. It was an exciting feeling, and he only witnessed it with Hiccup now. And he loved it. His wings didn't go against the wind – they were _with_ the wind. The dragon sighed happily, taking in the familiar nightly chilly air. It was the one time where he could feel he could do anything, and he had his human brother alongside him.

"Do you think we're close by?" Astrid asked. She was perched on Toothless' back, sitting behind Hiccup. She had wanted to take Stormfly with her, but both she and Hiccup agreed that if they _did_ come across Night Furies… she wouldn't be too aggressive over them. Ultimately, Stormfly stayed with Fishlegs and Meatlug (not their first choice, but it was better than staying at the Jorgenson and Thorston household. And Eret _still_ wasn't quite comfortable with Skullcrusher).

Toothless felt Hiccup move. He wasn't entirely sure, but he could have sworn Hiccup was trying to create a light to see in the dark. "From what the map says, the nest is hidden down in a cave of some sort." A small groan. "And… I can't read this chicken scratch. Apparently my namesake wasn't the best in writing."

Astrid laughed. "Well, we can keep going. We know the way to Dragon Breath Island, anyway."

" _A great name, no doubt_ ," Toothless added.

There was a low pat to the dragon's neck. "I agree with Toothless. We'll continue to Dragon Breath Island and see from there," Hiccup decided, while Toothless cooed in confusion ( _"I said nothing like that…"_ Toothless muttered). Then, there was a moment's hesitation from him. "Uh… if we _do_ find Night Furies there… we probably _should_ rename the island."

"Something more original than Night Fury Island, though," Astrid insisted. "I don't want another memory of Dagur, _thank_ you very much."

Toothless cackled.

Hiccup hummed to himself. "Maybe something like… Nocturnal Island... or Sleeping Dragon Island," the Chief listed. "Oh! Maybe we can name it _Toothless_ Island!"

The thought made Toothless feel special, and he smiled proudly to himself. Well, he was the Alpha, wasn't he? He _did_ deserve recognition for defeating the Bewilderbeast. _And about time, too,_ Toothless agreed. He cooed in happiness.

"Sure. While we're at it, we can just name all our future children after you!" Astrid added, with a sarcastic tone in her voice.

Toothless chuckled in unison. He could see a little human crawling around in the Haddock home, answering to the name _Hiccup_.

The chief groaned. Toothless assumed that his human brother didn't particularly enjoy the idea. "Ha-ha, very funny. I am _not_ cursing our child with my name." Toothless heard the paper cackle again. "Alright… we should be close…"

Toothless sighed, as he continued to glide through the sky. He didn't bother to listen to Hiccup, knowing that the Viking would use his tail to direct them to the so-called Dragon Breath Island. _Ha. What a name._ If Toothless remembered correctly, Hiccup named it because he found the island smelt like a dragon's mouth stench. Then again… there were dragons living there and leaving around remaining fish.

The dragon looked around him. In some way… this area did seem familiar. Like... from a _past_ life. He glanced down and saw the small islands form underneath, where water crashed the rocks vigorously. Bats and nocturnal birds flew underneath him as well, keeping their distance. Toothless sniffed the air. _It's… it's the smell of-_

 ** _"RISE AND SHINE!"_**

Toothless raised his head. That… was a roar from an Alpha dragon, he was sure of it. His ears vibrated in tune to the roar, as it seemed to echo with a plasma blast-like ring.

Both Astrid and Hiccup cringed at the roar.

"What… was _that_?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup patted Toothless' neck. Gently. "Bud… did you _hear_ that?"

" _No, I was too busy smelling the roses,"_ Toothless hissed to himself, sarcastically. His head went to the west, where he was sure the roar came from. It… was a high-pitched roar, similar to his own and to the one he heard from Berk merely a day ago. _A very powerful booming noise_ , Toothless agreed.

Something within the dragon snapped. An _instinctive_ snap.

He _needed_ to follow that roar.

It was… _familiar_!

" _Hiccup! I have to go!"_ Toothless roared.

He could feel Hiccup tighten his reins, and the dragon's tail positioned differently. _He's ready._ "C'mon, bud!" the young man encouraged.

Toothless didn't have to think twice. He released a Night Fury roar, and raced to follow the new voice.

 _I'm coming, Papa. I'm almost home._

* * *

 _I know this chapter is long overdue, but I had to somehow convince Toothless to go. Also... night shifts stink when you have younger siblings XD._

 _Hopefully, to those who follow up on "Souls of Dragons", I'll have some time this week to work on it._

 _If you're curious, Night Furies will_ **definitely** _appear in the next chapter :)_

 _See you soon :)_


	7. A Nemesis and a Friend

_Okay... please don't kill me... but I was having terrible writer's block.._

 _Hopefully, I've pushed through it._

 _I am so happy how much response I've gotten here :) So thank you :)_

 _Please review and tell me what you think :)_

* * *

 _Memories: Journey Home_

 _Chapter 7: A Nemesis and a Friend_

The night soon was drawing upon the small family. Only the stars and moon were the light, and the night brought out more than just the nocturnal creatures. Owls and bats swarmed the trees, and there was the distinct sound of Night Terrors swarming the trees. Neither Hiccup, Toothless, nor Astrid could tell if they were close now, due to the lack of light.

Toothless continued to follow the mysterious voice. He was certain; it was a Night Fury's call. _But whose call was it?_ Toothless wondered. That voice…. It was familiar. Like he knew the _individual_ dragon who made that sound. A memory… of a former dragon.

Was it his _Papa_?

The Night Fury shook his head. No. The Wodensfang wouldn't be… alive. Toothless sighed. _I don't want to believe it… but if he is really…_

Toothless didn't want to think about it.

It felt like days- months, even- since Toothless started to fly on this trip. His wings felt sore, and the extra weight of two people (including who knows what else Vikings liked to bring with them on trips) decrease his stability. _Oh, how I wish we could stop for a few moments,_ he prayed to the ancestors.

But the voice was still out there.

He shook his head. _No. I need to find that dragon._ Whomever it was… it had to be an Alpha of some kind. Only Alphas ordered the nest with such a powerful control in their roar. Toothless only knew from experience: when he roared louder, the other dragons seemed to obey him. It was fun at first, when he found out, but he soon grew tired of bossing them around.

He felt Hiccup pat his neck. "It's okay, bud. We'll find that dragon soon."

Toothless smiled and purred. " _I know we will."_ He then frowned. " _Unless this dragon is territorial…"_

From what Toothless remembered, back in his childhood as Blackfoot, male dragons were the most territorial (compared to females… and elders). It was unwise to upset a male dragon, or they would attack you. Toothless only knew this because of Wodensfang; he used to attack hatchlings who walked too close to him. And for the other male dragons… they would fight for the better female mate.

And he knew it was a male out there. The determination in the roar was evident enough.

" _Brother, there are Vikings out there."_

Toothless lifted his head. That voice… it wasn't the same one… but it was familiar too. The dragon searched the sky. _Where is it coming from?_ He wondered.

" _I'll handle this. I am the Alpha, aren't I?"_

The Night Fury gulped. " _Uh… Hiccup?"_

Hiccup seemed to understand him. "What is it, bud? Do you hear the dragon?" he asked, patting Toothless on the neck again.

It was at that moment when Toothless caught sight of the dragon.

There was a shriek in the air, and a dark shadow to go with it. Toothless stopped flying ahead, and held his stance in the air. He could feel his instincts tingle, and Hiccup and Astrid held onto him tightly. Toothless retracted his teeth.

With a quick flash, a dragon appeared. But it was not an ordinary dragon:

It was a Night Fury.

Toothless sneered. The dragon in front of him… was much bigger than him. A male, Toothless could confirm. His blue eyes burned in the night sky, and his teeth were also retracted. As Toothless was, the other male Night Fury kept his flying stance in position, as to block his path. His scales were lighter than Toothless'… perhaps an ivory colour.

" _Go away!"_ the Night Fury growled.

Toothless hissed. He recognized this tactic, and it didn't belong to an Alpha dragon. " _Where's your Alpha?"_ he taunted. " _Or is he simply scared to face two Vikings?"_

There was a slight pause from the bigger dragon. He tilted his head and his eyes thickened a little. " _Wait… Blackfoot? The runt?"_

Toothless wanted to correct the dragon, as he huffed annoyed. He hadn't been referred to as _Blackfoot_ in many winters. But the dragon wouldn't _know_ that. _"Yes…"_ Toothless admitted. " _And where's your brother? Still picking on smaller Night Furies, like when we were yearlings?"_ he snickered.

" _That is none of your concern!"_ the Night Fury growled, as his mouth filled with plasma.

"Toothless! Duck!" Hiccup warned.

Toothless didn't hesitate to move, as Hiccup clicked the tailfin to the right. The three friends immediately moved, completely missing the plasma blast. Toothless growled, and he charged up his plasma blast, and fired at the Night Fury. However, the Night Fury anticipated the rebound and missed the blast entirely.

" _Nice try, Blackfoot!"_ the dragon taunted.

Toothless growled, as he prepared another plasma blast.

* * *

 _….Eight Years Ago…._

" _I see you were unsuccessful_ ," a dragon growled.

Blackfoot lifted his head. _Where did that voice come from?_ Was his initial thought. His instincts, and his sense of direction with hearing, caused his had to turn to the direction of the voice. It was unfamiliar, though.

He almost gaped in stunned mode.

A female dragon stood not a foot above him. She was young, due to the limited number of fins she had on her head. Like him, there were only two on each side. And her scales were a lighter black than his as well. _Probably a coal colour._

But it was her eyes that stood out.

Unlike most Night Furies, her eyes were a bright green. Brighter than even _his_ green irises, even. And he was known to being the only Night Fury to have them. _I wonder how that happened_ , he wondered. Yet, he could not tear from her bright eyes.

They were _stunning_.

" _In what?_ " he asked, rather stupidly.

The teenage female huffed. " _With hooking your Gramps with my aunt_." She cooed playfully, as he moaned in confusion. " _Let's just say I've been watching you two talk. It's nice for her to socialize."_

If the male Night Fury was not stunned in the presence of a female, he would have retorted back with a sarcastic comment. But he could not speak. The fact that another Night Fury was speaking to him, and one that was younger than fifty winters old, was still a shock to him.

" _What? Are you shy all of the sudden?"_ she asked.

Blackfoot rolled his eyes. " _You're quite blunt, aren't you?"_ he snorted. " _I didn't ask you why you're snooping on other dragons."_

She chucked softly. " _I don't think I've met you before. Are you new here_?" she asked.

" _Perhaps… my name is Blackfoot,"_ he introduced.

The female tilted her head in confusion. " _You have a name?"_ she asked. " _Why would you want a name?"_

Blackfoot huffed. " _None of your business."_

" _Okay, okay,"_ the coal Night Fury said, in utter defeat. She inched closer to Blackfoot, to which he found himself shifting farther from her. " _Well, have you been here very long? I don't remember seeing you in the migration months."_

Blackfoot shrugged. " _I've been here for a few months. Maybe. My…_ " he glanced at the Wodensfang, who had just fallen asleep, "- _father… and I move around every so often."_ Sitting his head high, he added, " _We're sort of like lone dragons_."

The coal dragon seemed to have taken interest, because she sat down near him. " _You don't have a herd?"_ she asked.

There was another shrug from the pitch black dragon. " _. Wodensfang and I don't like to stay in one place very long. It gets a little crowded for us._ "

" _The male calling, I suppose_ ," she mused. When Blackfoot tilted his head in confusion, she added: " _My father left when I was a hatchling. Disappeared with the other males, I guess."_

" _I never knew my father,"_ the teen admitted. " _But he was killed."_

The female nodded sadly. " _I'm sorry for your loss."_

He felt warm all of the sudden. Finding a dragon his age, which he hadn't done in many winters, was nice. He had someone he could understand and relate to. Not that he could not with the Wodensfang, it was just that he enjoyed the closeness in age.

Silence swept through both teenagers. The male was not sure, but it could have come from the topic of fathers, as both did not know much about their fathers, or sires. It was something both were not used to speak about.

" _My aunt loves those violet flowers_ ," the female teenager whispered. " _You know, the ones that grow on the east side of the forest."_

The male teen cooed silently. This new dragon was beginning to grow on him.

* * *

"What the Hell is it _doing_?!" Astrid shouted.

Hiccup held on tight to Toothless' reins, as the dragon shot another plasma blast. "I have no idea, but I think we found another one of Toothless' nemeses!"

Yea... it wasn't the time to joke, with a feral dragon attacking them. Actually… it wasn't the time to joke at _all_. Hiccup smiled to himself. _Yet… this is the first new Night Fury a human has seen in six years._ He still couldn't get over the fact that an actual, another Night Fury was merely twenty feet away from them! An actual Night Fury!

Hiccup tried to contain his excitement, only because he would rather _not_ die due to a territorial dragon's attack on them. And not to mention that he wanted a better look at the dragon. So he _had_ to come up with a plan to stop this dragon from attacking them.

 _But why is it so territorial? Is this an Alpha of some kind?_

Hiccup watched as the dragon's blue eyes stared at them with an intense scare. _Wait…_ blue _eyes? Don't Night Furies have_ green _eyes?_ Hiccup frowned. Dragons were known to have only one set of eye colour, depending on the species. For instance, Deadly Naddars all had yellow eyes. Rumblehorns all had green eyes.

 _So… Night Furies have different color eyes…_

 _Like humans…_

This revelation, alone, would have caused him to faint at the sight of the dragon. And also fanboy out that there was so much coolness in this revelation, he would have squealed like a little girl at the sight of a baby dragon.

But this wasn't the time to dwindle on this.

He had a feral dragon to stop.

"Easy, bud," Hiccup warned, resting his hand on top of Toothless' head. The dragon seemed to hear him, because Toothless calmed down, and stopped attacking the feral dragon. Hiccup could hear Toothless hissing, but it was not as menacing as before. "We have to show this dragon that we don't mean to hurt him."

Toothless groaned in annoyance.

Astrid placed a hand on Hiccup's shoulder. "What exactly are you doing?" she asked. "This is a feral dragon, is it not?" She groaned in frustration as well. "He attacked us first."

Hiccup almost laughed. _It's almost like I'm married to a toddler._ "I know, but we need to be the bigger people here." He grinned. "Look, this is Dragon Master we're talking about, right?"

"I never mentioned _Dragon Master_ ," Astrid said, but Hiccup could hear the sass in her voice. "And right now… I'm not so convinced that you can train this Night Fury here."

Hiccup frowned. "You're kidding, right?"

Toothless grunted, as though he was offended, too.

The feral Night Fury sneered at the small party. Hiccup took the hesitation as the right time to fully study the dragon. It… wasn't exactly the same size as Toothless. In fact, if Hiccup was wrong with his sizing… the dragon appeared to be _bigger_ than Toothless. _I guess it's not surprising…_ Hiccup admitted… _but Toothless is the only Night Fury anyone's ever seen._

Hiccup shook his head. _Was… the only Night Fury._

For some strange reason… Hiccup noticed how the two dragons answered each other's hisses and grunts. Like... a form of communication, like between the other dragons and Toothless. Hiccup noticed that it was similar to how Toothless and Stormfly spoke to each other. But… more like how the Whispering Death and Toothless… uh… _spoke._

 _Wait_.

Hiccup patted Toothless. "Hey, bud? Can you…" He sighed. _Gods, I hope this works._ "Can you tell this dragon that we want to see his herd?"

Toothless glanced up at him with a toothless grin. He turned his head to the feral dragon again, and hissed.

Astrid tightened her grip around Hiccup's waist. "I hope you know what you're doing…"

"Me too," Hiccup agreed.

The dragon did something strange. He shook his head constantly, and he kept hissing at Toothless. However, he did nothing to show any type of attack. In fact, the dragon twitched his body a little, and his thin slits from his eyes went suddenly-

 _Thick_.

Toothless roared, with the power of the Alpha in it. It seemed to have either scared the feral dragon or Toothless was ordering it… because the dragon immediately turned around and began to fly away from them.

Hiccup smiled. "You did it, bud!" he shouted.

The Alpha dragon roared once again, and chased after the Night Fury.

Once again, Hiccup was filled with hope.

 _We're almost there, bud._

 _We're almost home._

* * *

 _See? I told you more Night Furies will appear here :)_

 _More to come soon... so don't worry :)_

 _Okay, see you guys soon :)_


	8. Something Missing

_Memories: Journey Home_

 _Chapter 8: Something Missing_

Toothless growled. " _That's it!"_ He fired up one more plasma blast, ready to fire at the dragon.

"Easy, bud," Hiccup warned, resting his hand on top of Toothless' head.

The dragon suddenly stopped, understanding the simplicity of this gesture. For Hiccup, it meant more than just a touch… it was a bond. Toothless found himself, every time Hiccup did this, understanding Hiccup more because of this gesture. It was like… an unspoken communication between the two.

 _Wait... he wants me to go_ easy _, after_ he _attacked us?! Okay… Hiccup's officially been drinking_ way _too much salt water._

" _Why'd you make me stop?"_ Toothless asked. " _I was just about to show him that I was the Alpha!"_ he hissed in annoyance.

"We have to show this dragon that we don't mean to hurt him."

Toothless groaned in annoyance.

"What exactly are you doing?" Astrid asked. "This is a feral dragon, is it not? He attacked us first."

"I know, but we need to be the bigger people here. And I want to learn more about Night Furies," Hiccup explained. "Look, this is Dragon Master we're talking about, right?"

"I never mentioned _Dragon Master_ ," Astrid said, but Hiccup could hear the sass in her voice. "And right now… I'm not so convinced that you can train this Night Fury here."

"You're kidding, right?" Hiccup asked.

" _What am I, chopped liver?"_ Toothless asked, with a grunt.

The Night Fury hissed, drawing Toothless' attention to him. " _You're despicable… to carry those murderers on your back."_ There was a sneer. " _What shame your grandfather would feel… to know that you have humans as though you're their pet."_

" _Grandpa?"_ Toothless repeated. " _Are you taking about the Wodensfang?"_

There was another hiss from the dragon. " _What's it to you? You abandoned him, didn't you?"_

Toothless shook his head, trying to not allow the dragon's words to affect him. No, he _didn't_ abandon his father. There was _no_ way he could leave his Papa. He would have rather died than to leave his father.

 _But you_ did _leave him._

Hiccup patted Toothless, causing him to focus again. "Hey, bud? Can you…" He sighed. "Can you tell this dragon that we want to see his herd?"

Toothless shot his head up. _Of course. This male isn't an alpha, so I_ can _convince him._ The Night Fury gave his rider a toothless grin.

" _Listen here… you butt,"_ Toothless warned. " _If you don't take me to your herd, then I'm going to force you to take me!"_

If the feral Night Fury was ever close to being scared, he was only laughing at this moment. "Oh… I'm so scared!" he taunted, with a rather annoying laugh. " _You of all dragons know that only the Alpha can control others!"_

 _Oh, this just gets better and better._ Toothless smirked. " _Funny thing… I happened to face an Alpha a year ago."_

The feral dragon's face dropped.

" _Now…"_ Toothless concentrated hard, staring at the feral dragon in the eyes. " _Take us to your herd."_

Suddenly, the dragon began to shake. " _No! I-"_ he shook his head. " _I-I won't listen to you!"_

" _Oh, I think you will listen,"_ Toothless said. He focused on the dragon's ever thickening slits in his blue eyes. If he concentrated hard enough, he could make this dragon truly take them to the Night Fury nest. He could do it. " _You will take us to your herd."_

" _No!"_ the dragon insisted, but Toothless caught the uncertainty in him. " _I won't betray my family!"_

The dragon's words struck at the dragon's heart. _Family._ Toothless growled. How _dare_ the Night Fury assume that he would hurt the herd. He would never hurt another Night Fury, even if his life depended on it (okay... when he attacked _this_ feral dragon, it was out of defense)! Did Toothless not live within the same herd at one point? Sure… it had been years since he'd been here, but it was still home to him.

 _But isn't Berk your home?_

Toothless shook his head again. _Yes… but my Papa is my family, too._ His heart felt like breaking. Oh, how he missed his Papa. The only dragon who was willing to adopt an orphaned hatchling. There weren't many dragons who would do the same thing that the Wodensfang did.

The nest _had_ to be close by. Since _this_ feral dragon was not the Alpha of the herd, then he _must_ have been just a protector… and the real Alpha was the final line of defense at the nest. It wasn't uncommon; the Monstrous Nightmares were the last dragons during the raids with the Red Death whom attacked, since they were the biggest dragons in the nest (well, save for the Red Death itself). Toothless grinned. _This guy… he's a good striker, that's for sure._

 _"Take me to the Wodensfang, then!"_ Toothless demanded. " _I want to see my father, so take me to him!"_

Toothless watched as the feral dragon begin to twitch again. However, this time, his eyes started to thicken, as a tame dragon would. He frowned. _Don't dragons under the control of the Alpha have thin slatted pupils?_ Toothless noticed that the other feral dragons, from when he controlled in the past, had thin pupils. _Is it different for a Night Fury?_ He could only wonder.

" _I…"_ the feral dragon gulped. " _I'll take you to the Wodensfang."_

Toothless grinned to himself, as he watched the feral dragon turn himself around. The dragon then flapped his wings and descended to an unknown place.

Somehow, the sight of this made Toothless want to roar. And he did; he released the loudest roar he could muster out, and it echoed throughout the dark night. He heard the echoes and they seem to grow louder.

"You did it, bud!" Hiccup shouted.

The Alpha dragon roared once again, and chased after the Night Fury.

* * *

 _….Eight Years Ago…._

If there was one thing certain about Night Furies, it was their trouble-making abilities. They were smart enough to cause trouble, especially at the age of a teenager. It was mostly instinct and natural roles coming into place. Yet, Night Furies were the most trouble at their teen years.

The same applied to the Wodensfang's son.

He and the bright-eyed female were in the middle of creating a diversion to make their respective parental figures to meet each other. It mostly consisted of violet flowers and work on the adults' parts, but the two teens were confident that they were going to succeed in their diabolical plan.

Some of the other teenagers were curious about what was happening as well.

" _What are you doing?"_ a large Night Fury teen asked.

The black Night Fury teen glanced up. Standing not two feet from him were two identical Night Furies. Definitely they were ivory in shade, although both had different eye colors. The biggest one had yellow, while the other was slightly shorter and had blue eyes. The black Night Fury could tell they were both male from their thick necks.

" _Nothing of your business,"_ the dark purple female retorted.

The yellow-eyed Night Fury huffed. " _Strange for you to associate with the runt_."

Normally, the male teen would not have cared. He did not pay particular attention to other teenagers. Yet… this teenager… he was a threat. Something in the young male's instincts told him that he should not like the two newcomers.

" _Oh, are you going to run off to your old grandfather?"_ the blue-eyed Night Fury taunted. When the Blackfoot did not respond, he continued. " _I think your mother was wise to leave you to die with him._ "

" _Don't speak about my mother like that!"_ Blackfoot shouted, immediately standing up.

The yellow-eyed Night Fury stood in front of his brother, retracting his teeth and hissing with a menacing look.

"C'mon," the female urged her friend. She pushed him away and guided him far from the larger teenagers.

" _You didn't have to do that_ ," the male grunted. " _I could have handled it."_

" _And they would have beaten you up_ ," the female hissed.

Blackfoot didn't want to admit it, but the female was right. His small size would not have been enough to anger nor set fear to the much larger males. _Especially the yellow-eyed one._

He hissed again, and followed his female friend away from them.

Blackfoot had decided, merely a couple of days ago, to name the female. At first, his new friend was uneasy with the concept of giving dragon names… but she immediately fell in love with the name that Blackfoot wanted to name her. Since Blackfoot, explaining how he had received _his_ name, he named her with the same concept:

Bright Eyes.

" _They're jerks, don't listen to them_ ," Bright Eyes insisted.

The two friends had stopped at the water hole where majority of the adults were. It was a huge crater filled with fresh water, connected to a running waterfall. Fish, from haddock to salmon, splashed up and were caught by the hungry Night Furies.

Blackfoot sighed. " _It's not that. They are jerks, no doubt. But I.._." He growled to himself, unable to finish his statement. The bigger Night Furies were _definitely_ aggravating him.

 _"It was what they said about your mother_ ," Bright Eyes guessed. When Blackfoot didn't answer, she added: " _I don't know how it feels to lose a mother. But I can see you're hurt by it. She must have loved you a lot to sacrifice herself for you_."

The male Night Fury nodded. " _She fought against a Whispering Death_." He looked at her, as a thought entered his mind. " _If I may ask… how did your mother die?"_

" _I can't really remember…"_ Bright Eyes admitted, " _…but all I can remember is a dark human…. fighting my grandfather and father._ " She looked down, as Blackfoot inched closer. " _It was in the day, and all I could think of how bright it was. It was scary, and I wanted to hide. But my parents went up to the human."_ There was a distinct sadness in her tone. " _My grandfather was the first one to fall… but my father was able to attack the man."_

 _"Then…"_ Bright Eyes blinked, while her eyes watered, " _the monster took out my father. He… he drew out this weapon… and plunged it right through him!"_

The teenage male could only imagine how horrible it would be, to see a parent ripped to shreds by a man. He remembered when his own mother was attacked by the Whispering Death, and he watched as the dragon killed her. _Luckily… Mom wasn't ripped to pieces._

As creepy as it was that Bright Eyes also lost both of her parents, it was comforting to hear that Blackfoot wasn't the _only_ one who had lost both parents. He felt… like someone else understood how he was feeling. It was easier to express similarities, even if it deal with anything like death. _Perhaps it is like how Woddie and I became friends… we were both lonely…._

" _I'm sorry for your loss,"_ Blackfoot could only say, remembering what Bright Eyes had said to him in condolences. " _He was a very brave dragon to protect you from that monster."_

Bright Eyes merely nodded. " _I know… but I still miss him. I… I'm afraid someone's going to leave me, too."_

For some strange reason, Blackfoot had the urge to comfort her. He scooted closer to Bright Eyes, and hugged her gently.

At first, Bright Eyes hesitated. Blackfoot almost pulled away, but Bright eyes rested her head against him and started to purr.

 _Don't worry, Bright Eyes. I won't ever leave you,_ he promised.

* * *

Toothless shook his head.

The last thing he wanted to think about was _her,_ despite not thinking about _her_ in such a long time. He sighed, as he concentrated on the sight in front of him. _Don't think about her. Don't think about her._

The light was starting to creep on the small company. Toothless felt his fellow riders on his back snoring supposedly. The feral dragon had flown throughout the night, and Toothless' memory began to resurface to the memory of his old home. _Including memories I don't want to remember…_ Toothless could only think.

He sighed…. _I'm sorry, Bright Eyes._

 _I'm sorry Papa._

"Toothless?" Hiccup asked, sleepily.

The dragon glanced up at where his human rider hung. Hiccup rubbed his eyes tiredly. "Did our friend take us to the nest?" he asked.

" _Not yet,"_ Toothless said, grumpily. He stared at the flying dragon ahead of him, whom was becoming hard to see through the upcoming fog. Its thickness grew steadily, and the camouflage of the feral dragon became lost. " _But it's coming soon."_

Yes… it was coming up. He could hear the streams from the river fall that filled the dragon's pool with fresh water and delicious fish for the Night Furies. The splashing of the young ones in the pool could be heard, along with the snoring from the elders. Toothless smiled. _And to think I used to sleep during the day… now_ I'm _the odd one._

The feral dragon suddenly halted.

Toothless stopped flying. _Oh no... is it fading off?_ He growled, and frowned. " _Why have you stopped flying?"_

" _Because my brother hates surprises,"_ the dragon said, with vigilance. " _If you recall, Blackfoot, he never had patience for runts."_

"What's he saying, bud?" Hiccup asked. "He's speaking to quickly for me to pick up."

Toothless groaned in annoyance. _The only flaw in my human._ He loved Hiccup, since he was his brother, but sometimes his timing was annoying. Did Hiccup _not_ understand that he was trying to be civil with the dragon, since it was _Hiccup's_ idea to not attack the dragon? Toothless grumbled. _At least Astrid was on my side._

 _"Listen… you'll have to tell them that my humans do not mean the family harm,"_ Toothless insisted. " _They only want to see the Wodensfang and we'll leave."_

The feral dragon snorted. " _Family? You have no right to call our home a family, especially after leaving us. Are we not good enough for you, O Blackfoot the Alpha Dragon?"_ he taunted. " _My brother would easily challenge your Alpha title… although there's no point. You'll eventually fail."_

If Toothless wasn't so hyped on seeing his father again… he would have ripped the dragon to shreds at that moment. " _Fine… but you must tell them that the humans mean no harm."_

The dragon bowed his head. " _Of course, Alpha."_

Toothless watched as the dragon disappeared. With every passing minute of the feral dragon's absence, Toothless' fears returned. Would his Papa be mad and not want to see him?

As much as the feral dragon's words were cruel, they held some truth to them.

 _Now I must wait and see if either Woddie or Bright Eyes want to see me…_

* * *

 _Oooooh, what will happen next? ;)_

 _I am sorry for the late update. I can't make any promises for the next one... but I'll aim for next Saturday._

 _Also... does anyone else have nothing from August 23rd-ish for views for their stories, or is it just me?_

 _Anyway, see you all soon :)_


	9. Attacks

_Alright... so here is Chapter 9._

 _I am way sorry for those who have been waiting patiently for this... damn, has it been over six months? D:_

 _Anyway... here is a short Chapter 9. I hope you enjoy :)_

* * *

 _Memories: Journey Home_

 _Chapter 9: Attacks_

The ivory dragon growled.

Toothless could only smile to himself. The feeling of controlling this dragon with some type of mind control felt… good, especially after all the times this dragon and his older brother (and bigger brother for that matter) would always pick on him when he was a hatchling. To be in command of his old bully… it was nice.

" _I hope you're happy, Blackfoot,"_ the dragon grumbled. " _You disappear for seven winters, and come back as a pathetic Alpha, ready to control the innocent."_

If there was an inch of remorse from Toothless for controlling his former bully, then Toothless didn't show. He shouldn't have to, anyway. Why would he? He wanted to go home. He wanted his Papa. He wanted to see Bright Eyes.

 _But do they want to see you?_

Toothless did his best to shake away the sickening thought from his mind. " _I doubt your brother is any better than me,"_ he retorted. " _If he had the chance to attack the innocent, it would be someone weaker than him."_

 _"Likely,"_ the feral Night Fury agreed with a small laugh. " _But you know… you were sort of pathetic as a hatchling."_

Toothless desperately wanted to slit this dragon's throat with his bare claws, but he needed him to guide himself and his two humans to the nest. He wanted Hiccup to meet the dragons he grew up with.

 _I want Hiccup to meet Papa._

" _Funny you should say that,"_ Toothless said, " _because I remember your brother always cowering from Bright Eyes._ "

There was no response from the feral dragon. Toothless didn't like how quite her was getting. They must be close now, right?

Toothless sure hoped so.

* * *

 _Eight years ago..._

Toothless raised his head up.

Blackfoot sat with his father, the flowers sitting near him.

Wodensfang watched the young teenager, as he slurped his fish. Blackfoot was usually hungry, but Blackfoot at the moment did not feel like eating as much fish. He tried to distract himself from the flowers that rest near him. Maybe he doesn't notice them-

" _What are the flowers for?"_ Wodensfang asked.

Blackfoot gulped, almost choking on the cod in his mouth. " _What_ -" he coughed, "- _do you mean?"_

Wodensfang chuckled. " _Little One, you are clearly hiding flowers beside you."_ He sniffed. " _Violets_? _"_

Blackfoot nodded. " _Yea... Bright Eye's aunt really likes these kinds of flowers. Something about the sweetness, or how it reminds her of home_."

" _Bright_ _Eyes_?" Wodensfang asked, uncertain with the name.

" _Oh, the coal scaled dragon_ ," Blackfoot said, quickly. He forgot that he had named Bright Eyes.

Wodensfang chuckled again. " _Oh... so you like her?"_

" _Yes, but not like that, Papa_!" Blackfoot insisted. He could feel his cheeks burn with fire, and he prayed to the ancestors that they weren't showing his blush. "I _'m honest..."_

Wodensfang frowned, and gulped. " _Well... I guess it's time that I tell you about the_ " He stuttered. Blackfoot shook his head in fear. "- _uh... birds and the trees- no, that's not it. What is it called... the furs and the... fleas?"_

" _The birds and the bees?"_ Blackfoot guessed. He suddenly gaped. " _No, Papa! Please don't!_ "

Wodensfang nodded. " _Right... but you know you have to know about it, Little One. It's embarrassing, but it is part of life, you know? And when a dragon is reaching an age where he can mate-"_

" _Ancestors, please_ -" Blackfoot begged, as he covered his ears and moaned.

"- _and he has urges where he wants to dominate females for-"_

" _I'm not listening_!" Blackfoot shouted.

"- _he needs to know that he must be responsible for his actions-"_ Wodensfang continued.

" _Blah, blah, blah!"_ Blackfoot sang off-tune.

 _"-he has to help his mate hatch her eyes once she lays them, and makes sure they all survive so your genes live on-"_

Blackfoot groaned. " _Papa, I really don't want to know-"_

" _And_ _when_ _you_ are _ready_ to-"

" _Wodensfang_!" Blackfoot shouted.

The old dragon immediately stopped talking.

" _Look… the flowers are for you_ ," Blackfoot explained, as he backed away slowly. He didn't mean to raise his voice at his Papa _…. Not really_ …. " _I thought you were lonely still, and… I know Bright Eyes' aunt loves flowers…"_

He bowed his head, not wanting to look at the old dragon. There were a handful of times the young dragon had done things that he really shouldn't have done, and he knew that _this_ was one of those times. _I'm sorry, Papa…._

Yet… the old dragon shrugged.

" _I probably should've figured that one out on my own_." Wodensfang chuckled. " _But you know, Little One…. I'm too old to have a mate. I'm considered an old, ancient dragon around here."_

Blackfoot rubbed his head against the dragon. " _Well… I don't think you're an old, ancient dragon. You're still my Papa."_

He cooed as he heard Wodensfang purr back.

* * *

Hiccup stared at his dragon, quizzically.

The dragons were now flying in between trees, which was clouding his vision. _I might need to activate Inferno soon…_ But it didn't calm him down. The two dragons were exchanging growls, and with no indication of stopping.

Hiccup patted Toothless' head. "You alright, bud? You've been growling the entire time…."

The dragon gave him a small, annoyed groan.

"Okay, be that way," Hiccup said, rolling his eyes. He turned his head to face Astrid. "Do you think he's being stubborn or what?"

"He might be simply talking to the dragon in front of us," Astrid assumed with a shrug. "Then again, I don't wonder where he gets it from."

Hiccup frowned. "Oh, that's low, even for you, Milady."

Toothless laughed, but then suddenly growled.

"Oh, come on, Toothless. We're only playing," Hiccup insisted, patting Toothless' forehead.

Astrid frowned. "Hiccup, I _really_ think you should learn Dragonese."

"Why?" Hiccup asked, dumbly.

"I think Toothless knows something's wrong," Astrid said.

Hiccup didn't hesitate to pull out his sword hilt. He listened closely to Toothless' reaction, to which he was looking around him in a frenzy, but somehow incredibly calm.

It was a quick swift that a ray of plasma shot at them.

Hiccup stood up. "What the _hell_?"

Astrid pulled him back down. "Toothless?"

The Night Fury looked up, as another shot of plasma shot at them. Hiccup held on to the dragon, as Toothless dove away from the shot quickly. Hiccup looked over at the Night Fury from ahead of Toothless. The dragon merely snarled as Toothless tried to maneuver passed the shots.

 _Something tells me that this dragon's up to something._

* * *

 _Please review :)_


	10. Finding the Nest

_Memories: Journey Home_

 _Chapter 10: Finding the Nest  
_

Toothless growled. " _What's your problem?!"_

The dragon sneered. " _I see that your Alpha control doesn't last very long_." He shot at Toothless again, this time the Alpha had a hard time maneuvering passed the shot.

Another shot came at him from behind.

From a different dragon.

Toothless turned around, nearly knocking the humans off his back. He glanced inside the trees, noticing a shadow of some kind hiding in there. Toothless tried to keep his eyes on the ivory dragon, but this new one was taking his attention off him.

" _Another_ one?" Hiccup asked.

The dragon in the trees hissed. Toothless could not tell who it was, or what color her scales were, but he knew from her growls that he was from his old herd. " _So… you have come back, Blackfoot_." She fired another shot, which Toothless was ready for. " _You have some nerve for returning after what happened."_

" _It wasn't my fault_!" Toothless insisted. " _You know that!"_

" _Right, because you were too much of a coward to fight for what you could have had_ ," the dragon growled. She stuck her head out, to reveal her coloring: Phthalo green, which blended well in her environment of the trees in the night. Toothless could tell that she was used to hiding in the trees, due to how easily she camouflaged in the forest. " _Go back to your herd, Blackfoot. You're better off away from here."_

Toothless frowned. " _You have no idea what I am, do you?"_ he asked.

" _I do know who you are. You're the runt of our herd from many winters ago_ ," the phthalo green dragon hissed. " _And my mate banished you from ever entering this herd again, or did it not designate in that stupid head of yours?"_

Toothless recalled to his childhood, a time when he was called Blackfoot, to the bully dragon that looked like the ivory dragon in front of him. The one with the yellow eyes. The one who… who banished him years ago. Toothless remembered how the dragon bested him… besting him in a simple fight.

" _It did,"_ Toothless stated. " _And I must say… I'm surprised that your mate is still the Alpha of this worn out herd…"_

Both of the feral dragons laughed.

" _And what makes your herd better_ _than a Night Fury one?"_ she asked.

" _I beat a Bewilderbeast_ ," Toothless said, smiling. " _Has the Alpha ever done that?"_

Both of the dragons glanced at each other in amazement. Toothless wished that Stormfly was there to see the look of utter shock written on the dragons' faces. Or even better... Wodensfang.

" _You-you didn't say you beat a Bewilderbeast_!" the ivory Night Fury stuttered. " _I-I thought you were just some Alpha that my brother coule easily beat!"_

The other feral dragon growled, but there was a sense of fear in her voice. " _Why are you coming back?_ " she asked. She glanced at Hiccup and Astrid. " _And with humans on your back?"_

 _"They mean no harm,"_ Toothless insisted. " _If you let me go to the nest, then I'll explain everything."_

" _How do we not know that you won't just take over our nest?"_ the female asked, flying closer to the ivory dragon.

" _And I have no intentions on taking over your herd_ ," Toothless promised. He was truthful; he lived long enough away from the Night Furies that he no longer wanted to associate with them. " _I only want to show my humans to the Night Furies, and to see the Wodensfang._ "

 _And Bright Eyes_ , he thought to himself.

The two feral dragons glanced at each other once more. Toothless was not entirely sure what they were thinking, but he had a fairly good idea that it was something very… unpleasant. He glanced up at himself, where Hiccup and Astrid were talking about… naming the dragons? He was not entirely sure. _Well, they aren't going to be too much help, are they?_

" _Alright_ ," the female dragon groaned. " _I will have to speak to the Alpha… if he will listen to me…"_

Toothless could only smile in the progress that he made. _I guess I don't need to use this Alpha thing, after all._

* * *

 _Eight years ago…._

" _Give her a name,"_ Blackfoot insisted.

The Wodensfang shrugged. " _Perhaps in the future. I don't want to just bombard her with something that she may not want to have_." He purred. " _Besides, I think it's a little too early to assume that someone as… well, pretty, as she, would want a name_."

" _Don't be silly, Papa_ ," Blackfoot said, through a chuckle, " _It can be something simple, like how you call me Little One."_

Blackfoot and Wodensfang were sitting together near the dragon cave, where the old dragon had the flowers by his feet. For what has seemed to go on for days now… Blackfoot had been trying to convince the Wodensfang to meet with Bright Eyes' aunt. It was the younger dragon's personal touch to give the old female dragon a name as well.

The old dragon, however, was not being cooperative.

" _It's not that simple, though,_ " Wodensfang insisted. " _You asked Bright Eyes if she liked the name, and she was fine with it. However, she is young. The older generation may not take too kindly with such things."_

Blackfoot grumbled. Did the older dragons have to be so… backwards, and not willing to change? What was wrong with having a name? He never could understand. "Well, at least call her something that matches her scales…"

" _What, like Flower_?" Wodensfang said, under his breath.

" _Wait! That's a good name!"_ Blackfoot exclaimed. " _She loves these flowers, so it makes sense!"_

Wodensfang rolled his eyes. " _If it makes you happy, I'll talk to her…"_ He picked up the flowers in his mouth. " _But if you want to impress females, this is how you do it."_ With that, the dragon got up and walked over to the female.

Blackfoot smiled, and hid behind some bushes.

Wodensfang inched closer to the dragon, with the flowers safely between his front teeth. He sighed at first, then he released a " _hem, hem"_ , as gently as he could. However, being a male, it came out gruffier that what Blackfoot assumed he expected.

" _Oh… hello,"_ the female said.

Blackfoot grinned from behind the bushes. _The old dragon won't know what hit him…_

" _I'm terribly sorry for interrupting you_ ," Wodensfang said, placing the flowers down near her. " _You see, my son is insistent that I have a conversation with you, if that is alright._ " He bowed his head respectfully. " _If a beautiful dragon such as yourself is alright with that."_

Blackfoot's jaw almost dropped. In all his years knowing the Wodensfang, he never knew that he could speak so… elegantly with a female. _So why could he not hold down a mate?_

" _Why, thank you, sir,"_ Flower said, purring slightly. She moved her head to the flowers and sniffed them quietly. " _Goodness, these are my favourite! How did you know?"_

Wodensfang chuckled. " _Well, let's just say I had a little bird tell me."_

" _A little bird?"_ Flower asked, with a chuckle. " _What type of bird was it?"_ she asked, looking at where Blackfoot was hiding. The teen bent down lower in the bushes. " _I bet it was a teenaged one."_

Wodensfang chuckled again. " _I believe so."_

" _Well, you are welcome to sit with me_ ," Flower said, gesturing to beside her. " _It's been some time that I've had some male company, to be completely honest."_

The older male nodded in agreement. _"And I can't say that I've wooed many females in my younger years,_ " he admitted, sitting down beside her. A low crack was heard from his side. " _Oh dear… there goes my side again."_ He groaned in annoyance.

" _Your side gets like that, too?"_ Flower asked. She shifted slightly, and a crack was released from her side as well. " _It must be the old age, I think. It's not like we all can live pass two hundred winters, right?"_

" _Two hundred?"_ Wodensfang asked, surprised. " _I would have taken you for forty winters."_

There was blush from Flower. " _You really think so?"_ she asked, purring again.

 _Wow. He really_ is _good,_ Blackfoot thought to himself.

" _Considering that I've seen nearly three hundred and fourteen winters_ ," Wodensfang said, " _I know how it is to feel old."_

" _You don't look any older than fifty, if it makes you feel better_ ," Flower said, jokingly. " _And very handsome, to be honest."_

Wodensfang looked as though he was close to blushing. " _My dear… as nice as it is to flirt… I must be honest with you."_

" _Oh_?" Flower asked, confused.

" _Well, it has to do with your niece,"_ Wodensfang said. " _She is around the same age as my son, and, well, I believe that the two of them like each other."_

Blackfoot's mind started to spin. _Wait… what's he doing with this?_

It wasn't supposed to be like this! It was _Woddie_ who was supposed to be falling in love, not _him!_ Blackfoot did _not_ have those kinds of feelings for Bright Eyes, even though she was extremely pretty, and-

He shook his head, and listened to the two old dragons talk.

Flower nodded, as well. " _Technically, she is more like a distant niece… my sister's granddaughter. However… I understand what you mean."_ She chuckled. " _It would mean something completely different if we were trying to keep the population of the Night Furies going, and that we could both still produce offspring."_

" _Excellent point,"_ Wodensfang agreed. " _However, it doesn't mean that my son and Bright Eyes-I mean, your niece, can't have a little family of their own, right?"_

Flower laughed lightly. " _Of course. Is this the official story I should tell her?"_

 _"Perhaps it's not the best time to push this on them…"_ Wodensfang cautioned. " _I… I don't want him to grow up too fast."_

Blackfoot bowed his head down. _Perhaps I should not have listened to their conversation._ As quietly as he could, he left the bush and darted to as far away as the Wodensfang and Flower as he could.

It was the only thing he could clearly think of.

* * *

It had been some time that the dragons stopped fighting. Hiccup could only have assumed that the Night Furies were now showing Toothless over to the nest. Only because he had no idea how to understand the dragon dialect. _If only I could learn how to speak… then it would be easier to understand these dragons._

So for the present, and very unsure time, Hiccup decided to distract himself. He watched as the two distinctively different shades of scales on the two feral dragons fly casually ahead of Toothless, as though he was of unimportance to them.

 _They need a name… they look like they could…_

"I think I want to name that green one," Hiccup said, almost out-of-the-blue.

Astrid rolled her eyes. Her arms were still clutched around his waist. "Why do I have a feeling that you already _have_ a name for it?"

"Well, it was in the trees, right? And it was spying on us and waiting to hit us," Hiccup explained, almost not caring about her comment. "I think we should name it Tree Scout."

Astrid was about to protest, but her eyes widened in the dark. "Wait… that actually isn't a bad name. It's kind of… _good_!" she said.

"Why are you so surprised?" Hiccup asked his wife.

"Let's see… _Itchy Armpit….Toothless…"_ Hiccup chuckled. Right… he wasn't the best at naming things… but Tree Scout was the best thing he thought of. "Tree Scout is actually the most normal name that you could come up with…."

"What about Sharpshot?" Hiccup asked. "I think that name, at least, deserves some credit."

Astrid nodded, chuckling. "Alright, I'll give you that one, babe."

"And you can name the other one, if you'd like," Hiccup suggested. He was kind of curious of what she could think of to name the male feral dragon.

"Is this why we went on this trip, so you can just name the Night Furies?" Astrid asked, with a smile.

"Hey!" Hiccup said. "There was more a reason for having this trip…" he glanced down at Toothless, who was still following Tree Scout and the feral dragon. "We came here to find Toothless' family."

Astrid nodded in agreement. "Yes, and how Stryker here literally came out of nowhere and beat us to the punch," she said, gesturing to the ivory dragon.

"Stryker?" Hiccup asked, testing the name out. Hmm... it wasn't terrible... and it _was_ far better than some of the names that the other dragon riders came up with, such as _Meatlug, Barf, Belch…_

"Why not? He did _strike_ at us. "Astrid said, shrugging her shoulders. "Sounds good, right?"

Hiccup nodded. _Now… Tree Scout doesn't sound_ as _awesome…_ Stryker sounded like a Night Fury name, for sure. However, Hiccup smiled. He knew he wasn't good at names at all, so that's why he was happy that his wife was with him. _Besides, there will be other dragons to name…._

"Uh… Hiccup?" Astrid asked.

Hiccup frowned, and followed to where Astrid was pointing. The dragons ahead of them were traveling deeper into the woods, and making tighter turns. Hiccup held onto Toothless' reigns tightly, while Astrid held Hiccup. Both Vikings felt Toothless make the tight turns as well, and Hiccup found Toothless' fins reappearing. _Nice work, bud._

It seemed that the edges kept on getting tighter, as the three dragons traveled deeper in the forest. Hiccup no longer recognized this part, as caves and small mountains circled them. Stryker and Tree Scout kept their distances from Toothless, although the pair continuously looked behind them.

Through their flight, Hiccup could hear the dragons growling at each other, and wondered what they were saying.

After what seemed like hours, despite what the sky told them (the sky was a little lighter, as it dawned closer to morning), Toothless and the other two dragons made a tight turn to a large area. It was a flat surface, with some trees, and placed high in the rocks beside a rather large cave. Hiccup could already tell that it was well protected, due to the tight turns of the hidden rocks and mountains.

Stryker landed first, followed by Tree Scout. Both dragons waited until Toothless landed.

"Whoa," Hiccup said, taking in the sights around him. The flat surface he was on… it was rather large. Enough to home a whole _herd_ of dragons, if it could support them.

He slowly got off Toothless.

Stryker bent down and growled.

"No, no. It's okay," Hiccup promised, as Astrid got off the dragon. He reached for his sword, and quickly ignighted Inferno. For good measures, he began to swing it around him. Both Stryker and Tree Scout's eyes went big, as they followed the dancing flame. "Hey, you like that, eh?"

Toothless rolled his eyes, but he stayed close to Hiccup.

Stryker slowly walked up to Hiccup. Toothless released a warning growl.

"It's okay, bud," Hiccup assured his best friend. He held his hand out to Stryker, and allowed the dragon to sniff at it. The dragon sneered slightly, before Hiccup turned away. He could feel, almost instantly, that Stryker rested his face against Hiccup's hand. Hiccup looked at the dragon. "There you go, Stryker. That's it."

The dragon stared at him in confusion.

"Stryker. It's you name now." Stryker said nothing, sitting down and looking at Hiccup with large blue eyes. Hiccup had to admit, it was adorable. He looked at Toothless. "Is there any way you can explain to him….?"

Begrudgingly, Toothless released soft growls at Stryker. The bigger dragon, and yes, Hiccup realized that Toothless _was_ smaller than Stryker, sniffed his nose a little, and then bowed his head to Hiccup respectfully.

"Oh my gods…" Astrid said. "Hiccup, do you _see_ this?"

Hiccup stared at around him. There... there were dragons _everywhere_ around him.

They all looked at him, both in curiosity and in interest. Some stayed in a small group, staring at him and Astrid in amazement. Not one moved for the longest time. Perhaps it took hours, days… to even move or flinch.

It was a variety of them. Some had darker scales than others, while some had brighter scales that stood out. Hiccup recognized that the dragons had various shades of black… not just one colour. And their eyes… some had blue, yellow, while only a couple had green. However, their bodies were recognizable: the batlike wings, the ears, the menacing retractable teeth….

Hiccup was surrounded by Night Furies.

* * *

 _Finally! They found the nest!_

 _Now, all we have to see is Wodensfang and Bright Eyes, right? XD_

 _You're all going to be mad, since I've lost the original outline, so I'm going by memory here. I hope that you're not too mad that I am taking forever to write this…_

 _Oh, and you've noticed that I've changed the name to "Memories: Journey Home"? Well, yea. I've changed it lol._

 _Please review :) And thank you for your patience._


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